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Aston Martin is seriously enjoying itself at this year's running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans: not only is it channelling the spirit of 1959 and revealing such beauties as the DB4 GT Zagato Continuation, but now it has confirmed it will be fighting for outright honours at the 2021 race... with nothing less than a pair of works Valkyrie hypercars.
This is a huge return for Aston, as it hasn't won Le Mans outright for 60 years when the DBR1 took the chequered flag. Granted, its Vantage GTE brilliantly won its class in 2017 and the 2019 version is hoping to mark the six-decade anniversary of Aston's famous victory by winning its class once more this time around, but to be challenging for an overall win in 2021 would be something extra-special.
Aston's decision to enter a pair of works Valkyries has come about because the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), the body that oversees the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), made a recent announcement allowing hypercars into the top category of the series. These two Valkyries will be based heavily on the AMR Pro version and will compete in a full season of the 2020/21 WEC, of which Le Mans 2021 is a part. Power for the racer will come from a competition-spec version of its 6.5-litre normally aspirated V12.
Remember that engineering genius Adrian Newey, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing's chief technical officer, is behind the Valkyrie, along with Marek Reichman (Aston's EVP and chief creative officer) and David King (vice-president and chief special operations officer), so it has every chance of competing for the WEC title throughout the season, and of winning Le Mans. Fittingly, 2021 will be the 100th anniversary of the first-ever appearance by an Aston at the famed French endurance race.
King himself said: "The FIA World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans represent the ultimate challenge for the Aston Martin Valkyrie - the world's most extreme hypercar. Designed and built with the purpose of pushing boundaries on the road, it's natural to conclude that the next stage in its development would be to measure its capabilities on the track. I can think of no better way to do that than to compete in a world championship, and the most prestigious and famous race of all."
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Andy Palmer, Aston Martin's president and CEO, added: "We have always said that we would one day bring Aston Martin back to Le Mans with the intention of going for the outright win when the time was right - now is that time. David Brown came here in 1959, with a car and a team of drivers capable of winning. We intend to do the same in 2021. The Aston Martin Valkyrie is primed for such a challenge and sits perfectly within the ACO's new 'hypercar' rule framework. Bringing to bear all of our previous experience and knowledge of competing at the top levels of motorsport, we embark on this most ambitious project with the necessary ingredients for success. What could be more evocative than the wail of an Aston Martin V12 leading the charge into the night on the Mulsanne Straight?"