LMDh Manufacturers in Support of Aston LMH Program

Management figures from four LMDh manufacturers have reacted positively to Aston Martin’s decision to revive its Valkyrie LMH program, saying “the more the merrier” when it comes to the number of cars in the top class of global sports car racing.

Top management from Acura, Porsche, Cadillac and BMW voiced comments of approval in response to last week’s announcement that the British marque will run a dual program in the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with partner team The Heart of Racing in 2025.

“I’m very excited,” said Honda Performance Development President David Salters.

“The more the merrier. Again, it’s entertainment. We’re here to promote our brands and develop our engineers and most importantly, entertain the fans that come and have something that is exciting to watch.

“So I think more cars, [more] high profile manufacturers definitely help that. So very thrilled to see that announcement and watch Lamborghini come next year.”

Salters added that the decision from Aston Martin to run its LMH car in the WeatherTech Championship’s GTP class, the first manufacturer to do so, is “the point” of the convergence between the LMH and LMDh that parties involved have worked towards.

“That’s why we all sat in hours of meetings for several years and to try and get this to happen,” he said.

“I think it’s moving in the right direction. So yeah, I think that’s exactly what we’re looking for.”

Notably, while WEC has welcomed cars from both technical rulesets for the first time this season, IMSA’s top category has so far solely consisted of LMDh machinery.

Urs Kuratle, Porsche LMDh factory director, pointed out that ‘questions still have to be answered’ with regards to the exact balancing between LMDh and LMH before the Valkyrie arrives in the WeatherTech Championship.

“Like David says, the more manufacturers, the better it is because we’re doing it for the fans and for the show,” Kuratle said.

“One thing which has to be clarified, but I know that people are working on it, is the convergence between LMH and LMDh.

“In this area, there’s a lot of questions that have to be answered still. But as I said, people are working on it and [are] confident [about] finding a solution.”

GM motorsports competition engineering director Mark Stielow said the buzz around the arrival of new manufacturers brings back images of the original GTP era from the 1980s and 90s.

“I was lucky enough early in my career to be in GTP back [then],” said Stielow.

“Now the excitement around more OEMs coming and really just watching things through people in the press, like everybody’s excited about [this].

“They want to see the new cars. They want to see us, the OEMs coming in, pounding on each other, racing every week.

“And the racing’s great. The cars are proving to be durable and very competitive with each other. So it’s very exciting racing.

“It’s a heyday right now. It’s just a fun time to be in endurance racing again.”

When asked for his opinion, BMW’s LMDh project leader Maurizio Leschiutta proclaimed he had ‘nothing to add’ to the remarks made by the other parties, also coming out in support of Aston Martin’s plans.