The works Aston Martin THOR Team, which masterminds the British luxury performance brand’s WEC Hypercar and US-based IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship [IMSA] GTP programme, ran a development version of the 6.5-litre V12-powered Valkyrie Hypercar driven by factory drivers Ross Gunn (GBR) and Harry Tincknell (GBR) on the 3.66-mile circuit, on Wednesday (19 April).
Aston Martin THOR assessed a wide range of technical items under development during the day’s running, gaining valuable data, as the team evaluates the future performance direction of the unique and pioneering Valkyrie Hypercar.
“This was a significant day for Valkyrie,” said Aston Martin THOR Team Principal Ian James. “Some of the developments we tried today will fuel our thinking as we consider the technical direction we go next with Valkyrie. We have been able to evaluate lots of areas of performance on the car, so Silverstone has proved an interesting place to challenge ideas. There’s more to come, and I think it gives us reasons to be excited about what might be next for Valkyrie.”
Valkyrie has already shown significant performance gains through 2026 in both WEC and IMSA. The British hypercar, the first ‘Le Mans Hypercar’ (LMH) to be produced by Aston Martin and the only car in the top category of WEC or IMSA to be derived from a road-legal hypercar, claimed its first double-points finish in WEC’s 6 Hours of São Paulo last month, placing in sixth and ninth. While in IMSA, Gunn and team-mate Roman De Angelis (CAN) were classified fifth, having finished second on the road – Valkyrie’s sixth top ten finish from seven starts in North America’s premier endurance series.
“We’ve been happy with Valkyrie’s performance characteristics in the first two seasons of competition,” said Aston Martin’s Head of Endurance Motorsport, Adam Carter. “We’ve repeatedly said that we’ve entered an arena with a high level of formidable adversaries that are also several years further down the development track than us.
“So, we are now beginning to explore new areas of performance that we may gain through developing the base car, now that we understand its characteristics that much better after 18 months of racing it. We’re right at the beginning of that journey and this was a useful and informative start to that development process.”
The test also provided Aston Martin THOR with valuable experience of the Michelin and circuit characteristics ahead of WEC’s return to the ‘Home of British Motorsport’ in 2027. Next season will be the first time the series has hosted a round in Britain since 2019.
“We very much welcome Silverstone back to the calendar,” said Carter. “It is not only the home of Aston Martin and British motorsport, but also the perfect opportunity for some of the best fans in the world to experience the raw and visceral joy that is the Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercar. They have waited a long time to see Valkyrie competing at the highest level on British soil, and they deserve to be thoroughly entertained. We will do our best to contribute to that experience.”
Developed from the Valkyrie production car by Aston Martin and THOR, the current competition version 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 standard form, but adheres to a strict 500kW (680bhp) power limit as per hypercar regulations.
