Endurance racing misses V12s. All motorsport misses V12s, really. No configuration compares when it comes to sound and sheer emotion; the shriek of a dozen cylinders firing in a vee is like nothing else, whether on a grand prix track or sportscar circuit. Aston Martin knows this as well as any other: it campaigned the glorious old Vantage V12 GT3 way into the 2010s, achieving a huge amount of success and garnering huge affection.
So when it came to revealing the Valkyrie AMR-LMH, there was no way Aston was going to show both the incredible looks and the wild soundtrack in one release. Too much for us all to handle. Now, a week after issuing testing pics of the Valkyrie, it’s released the asset we’ve most been looking forward to: the testing video. There’s not very much, it’ll definitely leave you wanting more, but as V12 racing car appetisers go, this is spot on – get the volume cranked in preparation.
Taken from Donington and Silverstone sessions, the 6.5-litre Cosworth V12 is the undoubted star of the show. Whether onboard or fly-by, under load or chasing the limiter, this is an exquisite-sounding engine. It does that uniquely V12 thing of sounding both raw and melodic at the same time, the smoothest configuration out there taking on a savage side. Rest assured there’ll be no tiring of this trackside. The current LMH and LMDh cars have produced some great racing in the past couple of seasons as well as some fantastic sounds – the Cadillac V-Series.R’s V8 in particular – but the Aston looks set to take that to another level.
For now, testing continues apace. The plan is for FIA homologation to be completed by the end of this year ahead of competitive debut early in 2025. We look forward to hearing more (literally) of Aston’s new V12 racer.
