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The Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar is almost here, and when it arrives, legend has it that it will take both the street and track world by storm. Following an announcement that the Valkyrie will race at next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, Aston said that its upcoming Formula 1-derived hypercar will also attempt to set a new lap record at the Nürburgring.
Speaking to Australian automotive news site CarSales.com at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last week, Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer said that he’s eyeing a fast lap time at the Nürburgring, possibly even the road-legal lap record. This record is currently held by the Porsche 911 GT2 RS MR, which scored a time of 6:40.33 at the ‘Ring last November. Even with its F1-sourced aerodynamics and 1,140-horsepower V12, the Valkyrie seems hard-pressed to beat the overall record of 5:19.55 set by the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo, because of how Aston plans to set a time.
“We already know it will be f***ing quick there,” Palmer reportedly said. “I’m thinking maybe we’ll do something cool—like turning up to an open session, something crazy like that.”
Instead of renting out the Nordschleife for a few days like most manufacturers do, something that costs a lot of money and resources, Palmer hinted that the Valkyrie would run some hot laps during a tourist day, where drivers of all skill levels can pay to drive their cars on the grueling 16.12-mile circuit. This may prove especially challenging for Aston’s ambitions because all participants can only drive one lap before coming back into the paddock. Furthermore, entering and exiting the track is done on the long straight near the finish line, meaning that the Valkyrie would need to make up all the time spent pitting and rejoining the track in the corners, dodging ‘Ring taxis and novice track drivers all the while. Crazy indeed, Mr. Palmer.
The boss man did stress that the Valkyrie wasn’t developed with the Nürburgring in mind, so Aston doesn’t have resources it wants to waste on additional (and costly) track development at the Nürburgring. When asked if a ‘Ring time was worth it, Palmer explained: “I’d really love to say ‘no,’ 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 also mentioned that the Valkyrie would try for a record at the Silverstone Circuit in England and Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium at some point.
If it does happen, don’t expect this record to fall anytime soon. The Valkyrie hasn’t even finished production yet, so a lap record is at the bottom of Aston’s agenda at the moment. The British marque plans to build just 150 Valkyries at $3.2 million a pop. In an email to The Drive, Aston Martin confirmed that the first Valkyries will be delivered to customers at the end of the year.
