Remember back in 2018 when Porsche’s 919 Evo, an LMP1 car unleashed from class regulations, shattered the all-time Nurburgring lap record? Well, Aston Martin clearly thought it was a pretty neat idea as they have created their own un-hinged track-bound spacecraft: the Valkyrie AMR Pro. First seen at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, Aston Martin and their partners, Red Bull Advanced Technologies (RBAT), have since been hard at work creating what might be the most extreme vehicle ever to feature a combustion engine.
Whereas the car unveiled in 2018 was based on the road-going Valkyrie, this new Valkyrie AMR Pro is a different beast entirely. Based on a Valkyrie race car designed to win the 24H Le Mans in the new Hypercar class, Aston then locked their ‘What if?’ Department in a room with only cans of Red Bull for sustenance and told them to go crazy. What resulted is, in Aston Martin’s own words, “a car of unprecedented potency and mind-blowing capabilities”. It uses a unique version of the Valkyrie chassis, with a track that is wider by 96mm at the front and 115mm at the rear, and a 380mm longer wheelbase. In case you hadn’t noticed, the aerodynamics package is also more extreme, with the addition of that bonkers rear wing lending the car an extra 266mm at the rear. The end result is a car that produces comfortably twice the downforce of a ‘regular’ Valkyrie, which was already rumoured produce enough downforce to drive upside down. In the case of the Valkyrie AMR Pro, it would probably punch a hole in the ceiling.
The nuclear Cosworth-built 6.5-litre naturally aspirated V12 engine remains, but this time shorn of hybrid systems to ensure weight is kept to an absolute minimum. Revving to 11,000rpm and on track to produce 1000bhp, it helps shunt the car forward with over 3G of lateral acceleration, provided the driver manages to stay conscious. Aston Martin says the Valkyrie AMR Pro will be able to lap the 8.5-mile 24H Le Mans circuit in 3 minutes 20 seconds, placing it among the fastest LMP1 cars of all time. Unlike Porsche’s one-off 919 Evo, Aston plan to produce 40 Valkyrie AMR Pros and two prototypes, with deliveries scheduled to commence in Q4 2021. If you’re lucky (or crazy) enough to have an order slot, we recommend you contact your local Astronaut training facility as that’s probably the only way to prepare your body for this piece of extreme engineering.
