Aston Martin is close to reviving its Valkyrie hypercar project, to complete in the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship from 2025, Autosport has reported.
The British manufacturer entered the WEC Hypercar class in 2018, but later cancelled the effort with concerns over cost. However, Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll — who also owns the F1 team currently branded as Aston Martin – said in 2022 that a revival of the project could be a possibility.
It would be run in conjunction with a private team, understood to be The Heart of Racing, a GT team which currently competes in IMSA and WEC with Aston Martin machinery.
Additionally, Multimatic are understood to be Aston Martin’s development programme in the project, and would come under the supervision of the Aston Martin Performance Technologies division, based at the new Aston Martin F1 headquarters near Silverstone.
The Heart of Racing was set up in 2020 to race Aston Martins in the GT classes of IMSA, but the relationship may be upgraded if a future Valkyrie effort comes to fruition.
An Aston Martin spokesperson told MotorsportWeek.com, “Racing is in our DNA. Aston Martin’s central motorsport focus is currently on the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, where we are achieving our best results in the brand’s history.
“But we are also the reigning FIA World Endurance Champions in the GTE LM Class and have won consistently in sports car racing with Vantage for the past 12 years. We are encouraged by the growth of the Hypercar/LMDh class and the hugely successful Centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans was a shining example of this.
“Motorsport is an ever-changing landscape, so of course as a global hypercar brand we continue to pay close attention to the class.”