Why the Valkyrie is Aston Martin's strongest push for Le Mans glory since 1959

Aston Martin is back at the pinnacle of sportscar racing. Not just back, but returning with what has to be its most concerted effort to win the Le Mans 24 Hours since its lone victory in the big race in 1959. More than that, the British manufacturer will for the first time mount a concurrent campaign in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in North America. And it is raring to go with a car that is set to capture the hearts and minds of fans around the world.

The Valkyrie Le Mans Hypercar, which finally goes into battle when two cars contest the opening round of the 2025 World Endurance Championship in Qatar on 28 February, has the chance to surpass anything achieved by Aston since its triumph on the Circuit de la Sarthe with the DBR1 driven by Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori in 1959. That includes the return of that car the following year in privateer hands, the ‘Project’ cars of 1962-64, the Nimrod Group C project that started early in the 1980s and the AMR1 at the end of the decade, and Prodrive’s efforts from the back end of the 2000s up to the disastrous AMR-One of 2011.