Aston Martin Hypercar to join IMSA test at Daytona
IMSA’s official test at Daytona International Speedway later this month is set to be a significant one for multiple reasons. Along with being the first appearance for GTD cars with torque sensors ahead of the 2025 WeatherTech Championship, it will mark the first run at an IMSA-sanctioned event for Aston Martin’s Valkyrie AMR-LMH ahead of its debut in IMSA GTP and FIA WEC Hypercar next year.
Adam Carter, Aston Martin’s head of endurance motorsport, gave RACER an update on the V12-powered car’s development today at the Bahrain FIA WEC round, confirming that the British manufacturer and partner team Heart of Racing will be in attendance in Florida with a single car. It will represent another important milestone for the revived Valkyrie project.
“We’re progressing well — the car has run well, the feedback around it is positive, but racing is about competition. We know it will be a challenge, which is why we’re coming,” he said when asked about the steps taken in recent months during testing. “We’ve got some formidable competition, so you can’t underestimate the quality and caliber of people here. We’ve taken that into account and set ambitious and appropriate targets.”
Aston Martin has completed about 6,800 miles of running with the Valkyrie AMR-LMH at multiple circuits. Aston and Heart of Racing will also participate in a Michelin tire test next week in Bahrain with a single car, before heading to the Daytona test with a second chassis.
“In Daytona, you’ll start to see a direction of travel as the teams are building, with support from the UK and U.S. team to make sure we are putting our best foot forward rather than splitting into two teams,” Carter saidwhen asked if the IMSA test will give an indication of which key engineering staff members and drivers will make up the IMSA team.
With the car close to being homologated ahead of the 2025 IMSA and FIA WEC seasons, Carter noted that the process of finalizing the car’s spec is on track.
“It’s fine,” he said, “we’ve had mega support from the FIA, ACO and IMSA and everyone is working together.”
However, no firm decision has been made on where the car will make its global race debut. Will it be at the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January, or the FIA WEC season opener in Qatar a month later?
“We have our plan, we are going with our plan, and we have regular review meetings,” he said. “We will make the appropriate decisions at the appropriate time.”
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