The spectacular new Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar enters the second half of its trailblazing maiden season within the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) when it races on South American soil for the primary time at Interlagos, for the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo, this weekend.
Following an encouraging 24 Hours of Le Mans final month the place each Valkyrie hypercars accomplished their maiden twice-around-the-clock occasion with out difficulty, ending 12th and 14th, the works Aston Martin THOR Staff registered the automobiles’, and Aston Martin’s first Producer’s World Championship factors within the Hypercar Class. The British luxurious excessive efficiency model now seeks to construct on this constructive momentum with a breakthrough prime ten end on WEC’s return to the six-hour race format, because the championship strikes into the ‘flyaway’ occasion part of the calendar that shapes the second half of the season.
The primary ‘Le Mans Hypercar’ (LMH) to be produced by Aston Martin, and raced by the Aston Martin THOR Staff, Valkyrie is the one automobile within the WEC’s premier class derived from a road-legal hypercar. Valkyrie can also be the one LMH to compete in each the FIA WEC and inNorth America’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA) and has scored top-10 finishes in each race it has contested within the USA.
Valkyrie made its international debut within the Qatar 1812km in February. The British machine has subsequently demonstrated excellent reliability, having completed 11 instances from 12 begins in all competitions and has strong development by way of competitiveness. It has been a constant points-scorer in all 5 IMSA races.
The Aston Martin THOR Staff will return to its two common WEC Valkyrie line-ups for the 6 Hours of São Paulo, with the #007 pushed by Tom Gamble (GBR) and Harry Tincknell (GBR) and the #009 fby Alex Riberas (ESP) and Marco Sørensen (DEN).
Developed from the Valkyrie manufacturing automobile by Aston Martin and THOR, the competitors
model blends a race-optimised carbon fibre chassis with a modified 6.5-litre V12 powerplant that revs to 11,000rpm and produces over 1000bhp in commonplace kind, however adheres to a strict 500kw (680bhp) energy restrict as per hypercar laws.
Tom Gamble, driver #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “I’m actually wanting ahead to the subsequent spherical of WEC in Brazil. It’s my first time racing at this observe, so will probably be a brand new problem, however I can’t wait to get began. The Aston Martin THOR Staff has put in an enormous quantity of labor behind the scenes, so I’m excited to see what we will obtain collectively this weekend!”
Harry Tincknell, driver #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “I’m actually wanting ahead to Brazil after our sturdy exhibiting at Le Mans. I’m hoping that each one the knowledge we gained and the steps we now have taken within the first half of the season might push us in a constructive course within the pack at Interlagos. Hopefully we will problem for factors and maybe get into the Hyperpole session, as Marco did at Le Mans. Le Mans was an enormous step ahead for us. Reliability was sturdy, our mid-corner tempo was good, and the automobile bought higher because the weekend went on. Interlagos is a observe that I’ve at all times wished to drive since I used to be just a little child watching System 1, so it’ll be nice to be on the market. I’ve by no means been to Brazil so it’s plenty of first moments for me this weekend.”
Alex Riberas, driver #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “I’m very excited and really a lot wanting ahead to racing again in Brazil. São Paulo is one in all my favorite tracks on this planet and I feel that the Valkyrie goes to really feel actually cool to drive round such a magical place like Interlagos. After Le Mans I imagine the workforce has bought momentum, we’re all very excited and dealing very onerous and I’m positive Brazil goes to be the subsequent step within the improvement of this season.”
Marco Sørensen, driver #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “We’re coming recent out of Le Mans and now we’re able to attempt to deploy all the information that we gained within the month of June to see if we may be fast in Brazil. General, we’re fairly prepared for this. Le Mans was constructive for us. It’s good additionally that they’ve resurfaced the observe since final time. Mainly, that implies that everyone seems to be beginning just a little bit from zero so I’m hoping that we will exploit that into a bonus. Hoping that we will get some factors for the #009 automobile.”
Ian James, Staff Principal, Aston Martin THOR Staff: “Simply as we now have completed at each race this 12 months, the workforce made sturdy progress at Le Mans. The character and the size of that occasion implies that you be taught a lot extra about your automobile than you do maybe anyplace else. We gathered extra momentum by that weekend and scored Aston Martin’s first factors within the Hypercar Class. Now we’re excited to enter the Brazil weekend and choose up the place we left off and maybe take one other step ahead in efficiency as nicely.”Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport: “The primary half of the WEC season has marked a interval of multinational for the Valkyrie Hypercar programme. One the place we now have begun to grasp the character of the automobile’s efficiency in a aggressive surroundings and created a baseline by way of setup, reliability and information gathering. This may proceed into the flyaway races, as we search to construct extra efficiency into the automobile and go after some factors finishes with each entries.”