2019 Aston Martin Valkyrie: World's fastest car hits the road

The time has finally arrived for the Aston Martin Valkyrie to put its money where its aerodynamically-honed mouth is.

Three years after the British sports car brand announced plans to build a road car capable of lapping Britain’s Silverstone circuit as fast as a Formula One car, the Valkyrie made its public debut at the circuit as part of last weekend’s British Grand Prix celebrations.

While Aston Martin has shown both full-scale models and prototypes of the Valkyrie for several years, last weekend was the first time the car turned a wheel in public, beginning the final phase of its development with real-world testing. Official test driver, Chris Goodwin, was at the wheel for the demonstration run that was also witnessed by Aston Martin and Red Bull F1 team personnel. 

The stated aim for the car is to be capable of matching lap times around the Silverstone track with a 2016 F1 car. To achieve that Aston Martin has worked in partnership with Red Bull Technologies, the company behind the energy drink brand’s F1 teams, and its lead designer, Adrian Newey (a man responsible for several F1 championship winners over the past three decades).

Power for the Valkyrie comes from a Cosworth-built 6.5-litre V12 engine and a Rimac-developed electric motor that combine to produce 865kW at 10,500rpm and 752Nm of torque at 6000rpm.

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Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer was understandably proud of seeing his much-hyped creation and believes it heralds a new era for supercars.

“Today is a real milestone in not only Aston Martin’s history but for our industry as a whole,” he said. “Aston Martin Valkyrie continues to redefine what you and I recognise as a hypercar, possessing unrivalled levels of performance in a package that is technologically beyond anything else. While Chris’ demonstration today was not delivered at full speed, there is no doubt in my mind that we will one day return to deliver its full potential around this magnificent circuit.”

For Newey the chance to see his vision come to life was a special moment. While he has designed F1 winners for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull he has long harboured an ambition to build a road car. 

The Valkyrie has made its public debut at the Silverstone circuit as part of last weekend’s British Grand Prix celebrations.

“To finally see Aston Martin Valkyrie running five years from when I first sat down and started sketching what this car could look like is quite an emotional day,” he admitted. “With the change in vision angle as it comes past and the noise, it is now doing what it is supposed to be doing which is to move and be dynamic. It has been an enormous push for the team to get it running here today at the home of British motorsport so this is also a special moment for them.”

Aston Martin will only build 150 examples of the Valkyrie, all of which are already spoken for. It will also produce a further 25 track-only versions, dubbed the Valkyrie AMR Pro, that feature even more extreme aerodynamics and performance additions.

While only a few will be built, the Valkyrie is an important model for the future of the brand because it has been conceived as a hero model to usher in its new generation of mid-engined supercars, including the new Valhalla and Vanquish models due to launch by 2021.

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Does Aston Martin have what it takes to compete with Ferrari and Lamborghini? Tell us what you think in the comments below.