What have we learned?
We mentioned it a few weeks ago and it is now official, Aston Martin THOR has decided to skip the 63rd edition of the 24 Hours of Daytona (January 25-26), the opening round of the season 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship.
???????? IMSA – No Aston Martin Valkyrie at the 24 Hours of Daytona
Information which was made public this morning, at the same time as the revelation of the identity of the first two drivers to compete at the wheel of the Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH in the World Endurance Championship.
The Valkyrie will make its IMSA debut, in the GTP category, during the famous 12 Hours of Sebring (March 12-14) indicates the press release. It is therefore indeed at the 1812 km of Qatar (February 28), the inaugural race of the 2025 WEC campaign, that the beautiful Englishwoman will make her competitive debut.
Why such a decision?
As a reminder, as indicated in the Hypercar and LMDh technical regulations, a car is approved for the period 2021 to 2029, and only modifications to the original approval can be made for the following reasons:
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a) safety, reliability, operation, end of marketing or cost reduction
- b) performance or style
And this while taking into account the following criteria:
- No more than 5 Evolution extensions (Jokers EVO) authorized per manufacturer from January 2021 to December 2027, regardless of the number of different approvals.
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No more than 2 Evolution extensions (Jokers EVO) authorized per manufacturer from January 2028 to December 2029, regardless of the number of different approvals.
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Among the authorized Evolution extensions (Jokers EVO), only 1 Evolution extension linked to the style is authorized per manufacturer until December 2029.
However, it is therefore a question of missing the approval of the car, which is why Aston Martin THOR decided – very reasonably – to postpone the beginning of its creation in order to allow maximum time to optimize its vehicle.
Photo : LAT
Where is the development of the Valkyrie LMH?
The Aston Martin Valkyrie is nearing the end of its testing and development program and has covered more than 12,500 km to date. Mileage including the recent Michelin tests organized in Bahrain following the finale of the 2024 WEC season, and the IMSA Sanctioned Test at Daytona last week.
As the press release states, the Aston Martin THOR team is now focusing on improving the performance of the Valkyrie in preparation for its homologation for the 2025 season.
« We are reaching a critical stage in the development of the Aston Martin Valkyrie, underlines Adam Carter, head of Endurance programs at the Gaydon firm. We are reaching a critical point in the development of the Aston Martin Valkyrie and, so far, the car has achieved all the goals and benchmarks we set for it. Testing is one thing, racing is another and we do not underestimate the formidable competition we will face, both in WEC and IMSA. »
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