[Auto] Aston Martin will race in the major series of the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 2025

[FNX Magokiler]

Aston Martin is betting on motorsport as an image support to improve its sales of super luxury vehicles. He has been competing in Formula 1 for a couple of seasons, with a hopeful start this year led by Fernando Alonso, placing himself in the top positions and fighting for podiums and victories against powers such as Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari.

But it seems that the Great Circus is not enough, since the British brand officially announces that it will compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) starting in the 2025 season. It will do so with the Valkyrie in the largest series of hypercars or LMH, compared to strong rivals such as Alpine, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Peugeot, Porsche and Toyota, among others.

Aston Martin thus returns to a race where it has an outstanding record, with an absolute victory in 1959 with the DBR1, driven by Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby, and adding as many class triumphs.

"We have been present at Le Mans since the first stage of the race. After glorious efforts, we took victory at Le Mans in 1959 and have achieved 19 class wins over the last 95 years. Now we return to the scene of those first victories with the aim of writing a new story, with a racing prototype that is inspired by the fastest production car that Aston Martin has ever built," said Lawrence Stroll, CEO of Aston Martin Lagonda.

The Valkyrie process
Aston Martin has been a recurring competitor in the WEC and in Le Mans, but in the intermediate series such as the GTE Pro.

 

 

Already in 2019 it raised the desire to enter the major series with its own hypercar starting in 2021, but the arrival of Lawrence Stroll as owner of the brand and his landing in Formula One frustrated this objective.

Now, Aston Martin will expand the Valkyrie project into motorsport, and will do so with the help of the Heart of Racing team, a team with a high sporting pedigree, which already ran Le Mans this year with the Vantage GT3, and which was victorious in the 24 Hours. from Daytona at the beginning of the season. With it he plans to enter not only the WEC, but also the North American IMSA Championship.

The Vantage GT3 from Heart of Racing, winner of the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona.

It is worth saying that Aston Martin's commitment to motorsport seems to be serious, with the construction of a new Technological Campus in Silverstone. This is a new factory specialized in racing cars, and it will have a wind tunnel and a simulator, both of the latest generation, key elements to design a good car.

Although the main building is ready and is beginning to be used by the F1 team, both the tunnel and the simulator will only be operational at the end of 2024. It is precisely in this recently opened building where the first prototype that will face the challenges is being manufactured. preparation and filming work on the Valkyrie LMH, in a process that should see the light of day towards the end of 2024.

 

https://noticias.autocosmos.cl/2023/10/04/aston-martin-correra-en-la-serie-mayor-de-las-24-horas-de-le-mans-desde-2025