Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR PRO will take part in the 2025 lemans endurance race?

When Adrian Newey promised that the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro would be as fast as an LMP1 car on the circuit, many people with a deep understanding of race car physics doubted him. Aston has not released telemetry to confirm this claim, or video of the Pro shining its headlights at a Le Mans car blocking its path. However, after experiencing it from the remaining passenger seat, which is really just a cushion attached to the carbon tub, I can confirm that this car feels very fast.
Giving journalists a ride in eagerly awaited new products has been a part of automotive PR for so long that Karl Benz probably invited a few hackers for a 'pre-drive' in the Patent Motor Wagen. When it comes to fast cars, the deal is simple - experienced professional drivers provide the thrills and we get a rollercoaster experience. It's true, sometimes things go wrong, but we tend to think that's part of the fun.
But this is different. The AMR Pro statistics are as intimidating as they are unlikely. Like its road-legal sibling, power comes from a Cosworth-built 6.5-litre V12 engine mounted directly to the rear of the tub. Without a hybrid system on a road car, it makes a claimed 1,000 hp at 11,000 rpm and powers a car that, while we don't have formal weight figures, weighs under 2,200 pounds. We also don't have official downforce figures yet, but designer Adrian Newey promises that the Pro will be able to produce twice as much aerodynamic assist as the regular car. Suggesting something in the 6000 pound peak region.
Newey was not at Homestead Miami Speedway as the AMR Pro was set to give journalists a passenger spin for the first time. The very long running of the Valkyrie project, and the fact that Aston Martin later bought its own Formula 1 team, means that the long-standing relationship between Aston and Red Bull Racing that led to the creation of the Valkyrie is now a rather awkward non-topic. . But Marek Reichmann, Aston's creative director, was on hand - the man who ensured the final car carried at least some of the brand's visual DNA.
“The car was designed to keep the packaging as tight as possible within the limits of man and machine,” he says, “that's it - nothing else, we didn't have a millimeter of free space. The design is almost exoskeletal, the tub is the structure, there is no lining on top.”
Driving duties at Homestead were in the safe hands of Andy Priaulx, former World Touring Car Champion and working Ford WEC driver. He had become one of AMR Pro's development drivers not long after the program started, his job replacing his professional motorsport career which ended. “I honestly don't think I'll get the chance to drive a vehicle this fast again,” he said. Apart from some tests on Williams' current F1 car in 2005, he says it is the fastest car he has ever driven.
With so many journalists to get by, and the Florida sun growing hot, Aston adopted a simple technique for sequencing turns: downsizing. As one mechanic put it, because it's easier to tighten the straps in the Valkyrie's very comfortable cockpit than to loosen them. This also means that the speed of the car must increase as the amount of human ballast carried decreases. I was in third place, so got a chance to watch from the pit wall as the AMR Pro went through its first two stints. It looks blazing fast on the start-finish straight - we're on the Homestead road course - but what's more striking is the howl of the naturally aspirated V12 engine, which ramps up well beyond the point my brain expects to hear it change. . All 11,000 revs were used, although I later discovered that the engine had been detuned in selectable mode to produce only 800 hp. “More than enough here,” as Priaulx said.
Then it was my turn. First discovery: there is no elegant way to get inside the Valkyrie. The best way is to step over the large window sill and onto the chair before sliding down, this leads to a position that feels more like sitting on a bed than a chair, ankles high at the back. Space in the cabin is limited; there is rarely more than one passenger. To give Priaulx the room he needed to operate the yoke-style steering wheel, I had to fold my left arm in front of my body.
The AMR Pro starts quietly, using 48V starter generator power in a gentle mode aimed at pitlane starting and reducing mechanical stress. (The electro-mechanical clutch does give the V12 power aggressive starting potential.) The engine fires up at around 10mph and immediately fills the cabin with buzzing vibrations, but my chance to experience it at low revs didn't last much longer than the pits. GO OUT; from that point onwards it spent its entire stint near its redline, its short gearing resulting in plenty of downshifts even on Homestead's shorter straights.
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