Aston Martin to enter 24 Hours of Le Mans with a Valkyrie prototype

The manufacturer is entering both the FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

It is another major step for Aston Martin, who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1959 and whose stock has risen dramatically in F1 this season.

Their Valkyrie was initially a road car, a collaboration with Red Bull Advanced Technologies overseen by Adrian Newey.

It will now be evolved and homologated to meet the regulations in the WEC before entering the hypercar class at the world’s most famous endurance race.

Lawrence Stroll, Aston Martin chairman, said: “Performance is the lifeblood of everything that we do at Aston Martin. 

“Motorsport is the ultimate expression of this pursuit of excellence.

“We have been present at Le Mans since the earliest days, and through those glorious endeavours we succeeded in winning Le Mans in 1959 and our class 19 times over the past 95 years. 

“Now we return to the scene of those first triumphs aiming to write new history with a racing prototype inspired by the fastest production car Aston Martin has ever built.

“In addition to our presence in Formula , Aston Martin’s return to the pinnacle of endurance racing will allow us to build a deeper connection with our customers and community - many of whom found their passion for the brand through our past success at Le Mans.

“The complex knowledge base we are building through our F1 team is data that Aston Martin Performance Technologies can harness to further enhance the capabilities of the Valkyrie car at Le Mans, in WEC and IMSA.”