The Valkyrie could set a new Nurburgring production car lap record.
The Aston Martin Valkyrie promises to be one of the most extreme road-going hypercars ever made, thanks to its F1-inspired aerodynamics developed by Red Bull Racing and a 6.5-liter V12 hybrid powertrain generating 1,160 hp and 663 lb-ft of torque. With those specs, Aston Martin has understandably huge aspirations for the Valkyrie.
In 2021, the automaker will enter a purpose-built Valkyrie into the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the company is confident it can win the world championship. But before that, the Valkyrie will take on another challenge: tackling the Nurburgring and trying to set a new production car record. Potentially, it could dethrone the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, which is the current record holder with a time of six minutes and 47.3 seconds.
Speaking to Car Sales at the Le Mans 24 Hour endurance race, CEO Andy Palmer admitted the Valkyrie isn't being developed with a Nurburgring lap in mind but knows the car is capable of setting a blistering lap at the German circuit. "In most cases a Nurburgring lap is not important. However, in some markets, I'm thinking China strangely, a time around the Nurburgring is important to the prowess of a supercar," he said. "In reality we're not developing it for that. It's not what it's meant for but we'll probably end up setting a time."
While other car companies would spend "tens of millions" honing a car specifically to get a fast lap time out of it or rent out the entire circuit and wait for the perfect conditions, Aston Martin wants to adopt a different approach. "We already know it will be fu**ing quick there. I'm thinking maybe we'll do something cool – like turning up to an open session, something crazy like that."
Palmer didn't mention times, but last year Red Bull's team principal, Christian Horner, suggested the Aston Martin hypercar has the potential to set a new outright record at the Nurburgring and beat the Le Mans-winning Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo's time. To do that, the Valkyrie would need to lap the Green Hell at an average speed of more than 147 mph.
As well as the Nurburgring, Palmer also confirmed the Valkyrie will set a timed lap at Silverstone and possibly even at the Spa circuit in Belgium. Besides, it's already lapped the Silverstone race circuit on simulators as fast as an F1 car.
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