“[Aston Martin owner Lawrence] Stroll asked me about turning the Valkyrie into a hypercar so I went and looked at the regulations, spoke to officials and said: ‘Yeah, absolutely it’s possible.’ But it’s been a journey for everyone involved, including the regulatory bodies. A good journey, but a long journey,” says Carter.
The base car is technically the track-only Valkyrie AMR Pro, which shortcuts some of the development. But that car produces more than 1000bhp from its hybridised 6.5-litre naturally aspirated V12 Cosworth, whereas the LMH rules peg output at 670bhp. But as Carter says: “The Valkyrie would not be the Valkyrie without that V12. It’s absolutely the heart of the car.”
He adds: “It’s got way more capacity than we need so we can run it very lean burn, and it’s a great, efficient demonstration of future sustainable fuels.”
So the hybrid element was ditched – anyway it drives the rear wheels on the road car yet LMH rules require it to power the front axle – and the Cosworth unit was effectively detuned, although Carter says that helps to offset any loss of torque resulting from the lack of electrification.
The challenge of LMH is that to emphasise efficiency, the cars are essentially set torque-based energy output parameters that they must stick within. Hybrids can help with that, which perhaps explains why every hypercar on the grid bar the Aston Martin runs one.
“Every race car is a collection of compromises and always will be,” says Carter. “Having a hybrid presents some opportunities around torque filling, but the V12 has a very high torque response. If you have a hybrid, you have to synchronise it with the combustion unit, whereas our response is all built into one unit.”
The bodywork of the Valkyrie racer has also been revised to fit the LMH class’s aero rules (remember, Newey’s joy in crafting the Valkyrie was not having to work to a rulebook…) while also ensuring the bodywork at the front and rear met motorsport safety rules and could be quickly changed if required.
