How’s that for a nickname.
It’s no secret that famed British sports car marque Aston Martin has a mid-engined hypercar in the works, though it seems that when we weren’t looking, they’ve given it a kickass nickname and decided that it might just be used to race in the 2020 Le Mans 24-hour endurance race.
Initially, Aston was expected to put the Valkyrie hypercar in for a Le Mans attempt when the organisers announced that regulations were set to change, putting road-based and prototype hybrid concept cars in the topmost category of the race. But with all the Valkyries already sold and a Valkyrie-inspired new model due in 2020, brand boss Andy Palmer confirmed that Aston may field that new model instead.
“I’m hesitant to confirm we will race at Le Mans before the final regulations have been confirmed, because our experiences in Formula 1 have taught us that in motorsports, ideas that begin optimistically can ebb away. But we have a great deal of interest in the new regulations at Le Mans. The underlying fact is that ‘son of Valkyrie’ will drop at exactly the right time. And if that means it would be able to go into the event and race LaFerraris, Porsche 918s and McLaren Sennas, then I cannot think of anything beter.” — Andy Palmer, CEO, Aston Martin
Palmer made these comments to UK publication Autocar. But can we take a second to just revel in that nickname?
The ‘son of Valkyrie’ has been confirmed to be heavily-inspired by the Valkyrie project, a joint-venture between Aston Martin Racing and Red Bull Formula 1. The Valkyrie is now in its final stages of development, and bears strong influences from the premier motorsport, particularly in the aerodynamics department. Powering the Valkyrie is a mighty naturally-aspirated V12 engine, engineered to rev higher than the 6,000rpm redline that Aston usually adheres to. A KERS system is expected to be packaged in too, with a rumoured output of about 750kW.
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