► Just 10 examples to be made
► Ditches the hybrid like the racecar
► But you keep the V12
Aston Martin is the latest brand to reveal a new hypercar that promises to be the closest yet to its real-life Le Mans challenger. This time it’s called the Valkyrie LM, and just ten examples of the car will be made. WEC fans will know this isn’t the first time a brand has made a WEC spin-off; Aston’s project follows the one-off road-legal Porsche 963 ‘Count Rossi’ RSP revealed last week, and the Ferrari 499P Modificata track car revealed in 2024.
‘Valkyrie LM is an exquisite opportunity to be part of the most exclusive Aston Martin owners club in the world,’ said Aston Martin CEO Adrian Hallmark. ‘A group who can immerse themselves in the purest and most comparable endurance driving experience, one that would otherwise only be available to our works drivers operating at the very limit of sportscar racing’s highest echelon.’
Not much, or a lot – depending on the Valkyrie you’re thinking about. The Aston Martin Valkyrie is currently the only WEC hypercar based on a road-going model, but this car LM is based on the racing car, not the road car.
That end, it keeps the same powertrain as the Le Mans racecar, which is ditches the hybrid system and makes far less than the post-1000bhp of the road car. With that in mind, the LM uses a lean-burn version of the 6.5-litre naturally-aspirated V12 and tunes it to a regulation limited 670bhp. More than enough to be getting on with for privately-owned track car.
The key differences between the LM and fully-blown racecar include the removal of ballast, FIA regulation electronics and the addition of more comfortable track-day focused cockpit interfaces. You still get a custom carbonfibre race seat, along with a six-point harness and fire suppression system.
Torque sensors for managing power delivery have also been removed, and the V12 has been adapted to accepted more common fuel.
Alongside a HANS device and full race kit, the Valkyrie LM also comes with a driver development program combined with track days put on by Aston Martin. The first year will be capped by a special evening at Aston’s Gaydon HQ.
Curtis Moldrich is CAR magazine’s Digital Editor and has worked for the brand for the past five years. He’s responsible for online strategy, including CAR’s website, social media channels such as X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, and helps on wider platform strategy as CAR magazine branches out on to Apple News+ and more.
By Curtis Moldrich
CAR's Digital Editor, F1 and sim-racing enthusiast. Partial to clever tech and sports bikes
