Aston Martin originally built the Valkyrie designed by Adrian Newey for the new hypercar class of the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a factory program, together with a limited street car version.
But shortly after a consortium led by Lawrence Stroll bought shares in the troubled British manufacturer, the hypercar program was put on hold to shift focus to Formula 1, with Stroll’s Racing Point team being renamed Aston Martin Racing for 2021.
While the Valkyrie won’t see any competition, Aston Martin has developed a limited-edition race-only version of the car, the AMR Pro, which was first announced at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show.
On Monday, Aston Martin revealed new details on the revised design of the AMR Pro, which ditched its original hybrid system in favor of a lighter and faster 1,000-horsepower design that should approach Formula 1 levels of performance, with Chief Designer Newey saying the AMR Pro is a “valkyrie on steroids”.
“After the Aston Martin Valkyrie was born, we discussed converting it into a racing car to fight for overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said Newey.
“There were several points to consider, such as repositioning the engine and transmission, extending the wheelbase and optimizing the aerodynamics.
“The project was very fun and well advanced before the program was unfortunately curtailed, but the mechanical design of the car lives on as the AMR Pro. The AMR Pro has been significantly modified from the street version and is effectively an Aston Martin Valkyrie on steroids. “
“Its performance is at a very high level, much higher than that of any other pure racing car to date and even well above a top-class LMP-LMP car today. It will be incredibly exciting to see the car out on the track and show what it is. “True potential.”
The Valkyrie AMR Pro, which Newey developed under the umbrella of Red Bull Advanced Technologies, is powered by a modified version of the Valkyrie 6.5 liter V12 engine built by Cosworth, which develops over 1,000 hp.
Since it doesn’t have to adhere to any regulations like its canceled counterpart in Le Mans, the AMR Pro has been designed entirely for advanced aerodynamics with ground effect.
By removing the hybrid system and taking other weight-saving measures, Aston Martin believes the car has “track performance close to that of a Formula 1 car” and a lap of Le Mans 13.6km Circuit de la Sarthe in 3 : It can complete 20 minutes on a par with the current hypercar class.
Aston Martin added that its drivers Vettel and Stroll “will bring their expertise to the development of the new Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro,” saying that physical testing of the car will begin shortly, although driver involvement has not yet been determined .
“Valkyrie AMR Pro is an incomparable project, a real track-only version with no rules,” adds Tobias Moers, CEO of Aston Martin. “Nothing else looks like it, nothing else sounds like it, and I’m absolutely certain that nothing else will go like this.”
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