The cancellation of plans to perform at the 24 Hours of Le Mans helped give birth to the road monster.
They are waiting for the promised three years, which once again confirms the example of the new Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro – the hypercar announced in 2018 was promised to start producing in 2021, but not in the form in which the model was shown to the public.
Despite the fact that Aston Martin has not yet managed to release a serial copy of its Valkyrie hypercar, and even more so its “charged” version of the Valkyrie AMR Pro, this did not prevent the British automaker from announcing a modernized version of the Valkyrie AMR Pro – an even crazier and more technologically advanced hypercar Aston Martin with that with the same name, but with a different design and other technical solutions.
Initially, speaking of factory tuning, for the AMR Pro, the company promised a retuned engine, KERS and electronic systems, reinforced carbon-ceramic brakes, a modified active suspension and a new exhaust system, a much more aggressive aerodynamic body kit with a huge “fin”, a giant diffuser and simply monstrous wing. By abandoning the climate and multimedia systems, replacing glass with polycarbonate panels, as well as using carbon suspension elements, the car’s weight should have been reduced, and 18-inch wheels would have made it possible to use Michelin racing tires from the LM P1 sport prototypes.
But, as often happens, the initial idea had changed by the time of implementation, and very significantly. So much so that the previously shown prototype and the now announced car are united only by the name. The thing is that Aston Martin changed the concept of the project. The company abandoned the idea of squeezing the maximum out of the road hypercar chassis and decided to take as a basis its own developments on a new car under the Hypercar regulations for the FIA WEC World Endurance Championship. Now they will be embodied in “hardware” in the form of a model that is not constrained by the rigid framework of the technical rules of any of the series. This is how the road monster appeared – the new Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro.
The project started in 2019, when Aston Martin, legendary Formula 1 engineer Adrian Newey , Red Bull Advanced Technologies (RBAT) and technical partner Multimatic took on the development of the LMH (Le Mans Hypercar) racing hypercar to fight for victory in general standings “24 Hours of Le Mans”. While this car has not been given the green light and the battle in the daily marathon of the factory team has been postponed indefinitely, but the experience gained and the almost finished racing car they decided to turn into a track model for wealthy customers.
For this, the chassis, power plant and aerodynamics, already optimized for the racetrack, were refined. For example, the hybrid powertrain has evolved into a conventional gasoline internal combustion engine – a Cosworth-developed 6.5-liter naturally aspirated V12 petrol with 1,015bhp. deprived of the 161-horsepower electric motor and lithium-ion battery, which together form the KERS kinetic energy recovery system. If in racing the regulations require hybrid units, then in the track model they are far from obligatory and they were sacrificed to the lightening of the structure.
In addition, to further reduce weight, the wishbones were made from carbon fiber, while the front and side windows were replaced with clear Perspex resin panels.
“The project of the racing Valkyrie for the 24 Hours of Le Mans went quite far before, alas, the program was paused. But the mechanical design of the car lives on in the AMR Pro version. In fact, this version is an Aston Martin Valkyrie on steroids! It will be incredibly exciting to see the car on the track and show its true potential”, said Adrian Newey .
The company still keeps the detailed technical characteristics of the new Valkyrie AMR Pro secret, but it is already clear that the car has become not only lighter, but also faster. All due to the redesigned body structure – with the road Valkyrie, the AMR Pro version does not have a single body panel in common!
Moreover, the track version also differs in its dimensions: the wheelbase has grown by 380 mm, the track at the front has expanded by 96 mm and at the rear by 115 mm, and new aerodynamic elements have provided additional 266 mm in length. It is promised that the hypercar will be able to pass corners with lateral overload in 3G!
Aston Martin claims that the company’s new brainchild will complete the 13.6-kilometer lap of the Sarte in 3 minutes and 20 seconds, which is only 3-5 seconds worse than the “full” racing prototypes of the LM P1 category. True, so far the words of the British brand have not been confirmed by deeds. The new Valkyrie AMR Pro is far from serial production and only final factory tests and fine tuning await it with the direct participation of the Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team pilots – Canadian Lance Stroll and 4-time Formula 1 champion German Sebastian Vettel.
The cost of the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro, which is not disclosed, in addition to the hypercar itself, will include a set of branded racing equipment, work with instructors of the brand’s racing team, track days organized at FIA-homologated tracks around the world, VIP dinner and many other privileges that emphasize the status owners of the new model.
It will be released on the market in a circulation of 40 copies, not counting a couple of test prototypes, and only in the left-hand drive version. They promise that happy buyers of the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro will receive their cars in the fourth quarter of 2021. But if you remember that for five years the road Aston Martin Valkyrie has not become serial, it is possible that the release dates for the AMR Pro will be adjusted. Naturally, towards greater expectations.
Article written by Maxim Vershinin