The world of endurance racing is in great shape. More and more automakers are joining the fray. Today it was announced that Aston Martin joins WEC racing from the 2025 season onwards. This means that the British firm, which also has its own F1 team, will compete at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans as well.

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Both Sides of the Pond

Aston Martin made the announcement that it will also be competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championships from 2025 as well. This means that the prototype Valkyrie will participate in three of sportscar racing’s most prestigious events. The are the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Lawrence Stroll, Executive Chairman of Aston Martin Lagonda, said: “Performance is the lifeblood of everything that we do at Aston Martin, and 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.”

Road-car Based

The Valkyrie AMR Pro was originally designed to meet the LMH hypercar regulations. Now the company is developing a competition prototype version of Valkyrie for racing. The race Valkyrie will use a modified version of the Cosworth-built 6,5-litre naturally aspirated V12 engine. 

Aston will join other mainstream automakers in these two series. Acura, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Toyota and others that have joined the fray since the implementation of a more cost-effective rule-set. The rules also allow cars to compete in the two leading endurance series in the world, making it doubly attractive for OEMs.