James Pleased With “Fact-Finding Mission” for Valkyrie

Photo: Aston Martin

Heart of Racing team principal Ian James said the recent track test with possible updates for the Aston Martin Valkyrie was more of a “fact-finding mission” ahead of testing “in earnest” later this year.

The LMH-based prototype took to Silverstone for a single-day test earlier this month with Ross Gunn and Harry Tincknell tasked with driving duties of the V12-powered prototype.

While specifics on the potential upgrades were not disclosed, the British manufacturer stated they assessed a “wide range of technical items” in order to evaluate the “future performance direction” of the car.

“It was really a fact-finding mission,” James told Sportscar365. “We weren’t really looking at anything but getting numbers. It was bits and pieces that we wanted to try.

“It was positive in that regard in terms of we learned what we needed to learn but we won’t be running in earnest until later in the year.

“We want to get some track correlation to the CFD and wind tunnel work on some aero stuff and we’re evaluating lots of other parts.

“What actually gets on to the car for homologation purposes is still TBD.”

When asked what areas of the car they’re targeting for improvements, such as aero, weight and power delivery, James indicated that the developments are aimed more to create a better-balanced car in terms of drivability.

“All of those areas are pretty firmly pegged in certain boxes,” he said. “It’s just the efficiency of how you produce that, when you produce it, drivability, stuff like that.

“A lot of people always talk about drivability. But that’s really the key to unlocking the speed in these cars, to make the car more user-friendly for the drivers, and they can extract more performance out of them.”

James said the first correlation test with the developments will come next week at Circuit of The Americas, following Sunday’s Lone Star Le Mans FIA World Endurance Championship race, which will provide a back-to-back comparison.

The same test car that ran at Silverstone will be conducting the test at COTA, which is scheduled for next Wednesday.

It will be followed up by a two-day test at Motorland Aragon on Sept. 14-15.

Sportscar365 understands there are also at least three wind tunnel sessions scheduled at Windshear, with dates in early October, late October and mid-November.

The Valkyrie, meanwhile, will continue as a non-hybrid, with a hybrid system, which is mandatory for new LMH car homologations, not having been thought about due to weight considerations.

“We’d add a lot of weight so we couldn’t do that in this cycle,” said James. “We’d have to go away from the V12 and then it wouldn’t be a Valkyrie.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John