Aston Martin exploring new areas of performance with Valkyrie

Here is the thing, watching Aston Martin build out its Hypercar project has been an absolute treat. The British marque took its second-season Valkyrie out for a proper run at Silverstone on 19 August, putting the machine through its paces right in the backyard of the pioneering prototype as the team trialled a number of potential developments.

That iconic British badge is no stranger to GT success with the Vantage, but stepping up to the FIA World Endurance Championship's highest level has been a fascinating journey. The US-entered, British-run outfit has maintained serious momentum into 2026. We have seen some genuinely impressive displays, including four consecutive points-scoring finishes for Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble in the #007 Valkyrie. That run includes a stellar fourth place at Spa-Francorchamps in May, just shy of the rostrum, alongside a maiden top ten double in São Paulo last month.

Now, as the manufacturer chases that next step at the international pinnacle of endurance racing, factory drivers Harry Tincknell and Ross Gunn jumped behind the wheel of a development version of the 6.5-litre, V12-powered Hypercar at Silverstone's world-famous Grand Prix circuit. It is worth remembering that this is the only production-derived model competing in the series' top tier. Over a comprehensive day of running, the works Aston Martin THOR Team assessed a wide range of technical innovations to collect vital data.

"This was a significant day for Valkyrie," acknowledged Team Principal, Ian James. "Some of the developments we tried will fuel our thinking as we consider the technical direction we take next. We have been able to evaluate lots of areas on the car, so Silverstone proved an interesting place to challenge ideas. There's more to come, and I think it gives us reasons to be excited."

Ahead of them is a grid filled with formidable adversaries who are several years further down the development track, as Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport, pointed out. "We are beginning to explore new areas of performance that we may gain through developing the base car, now that we understand its characteristics that much better after 18 months of racing it," Carter said. "We're right at the beginning of that journey, and this was a useful and informative start to the development process."