Aston Martin THOR Team put its second-season Valkyrie Hypercar through its paces at Silverstone yesterday (19 August), as the iconic British marque trialled a number of potential developments in the pioneering prototype’s backyard.
Long a leading protagonist in GT circles with the ultra-successful Vantage, Aston Martin stepped up to the FIA World Endurance Championship’s highest level for the first time last year, showing marked progress over the second half of the campaign in particular.
The US-entered, British-run outfit maintained that momentum into 2026, with a number of impressive displays and four consecutive points-scoring finishes for Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble in the #007 Valkyrie thus far, highlighted by fourth place – just shy of the rostrum – at Spa-Francorchamps in May, as well as a maiden top ten double in São Paulo last month.
As the manufacturer bids to take the next step in its journey at the international pinnacle of the long-distance discipline, Aston Martin factory drivers Tincknell and Ross Gunn took to the track around Silverstone’s world-famous Grand Prix circuit behind the wheel of a development version of the 6.5-litre, V12-powered Hypercar – the only production-derived model competing in the series’ top-tier.
The works Aston Martin THOR Team – which masterminds the luxury performance brand’s FIA WEC programme – assessed a wide range of technical innovations over the course of a comprehensive day of running, collecting vital data as it scopes out future avenues of performance.
“This was a significant day for Valkyrie,” acknowledged Team Principal, Ian James. “Some of the developments we tried will fuel our thinking as we consider the technical direction we take next. We have been able to evaluate lots of areas on the car, so Silverstone proved an interesting place to challenge ideas. There’s more to come, and I think it gives us reasons to be excited.”
“We’ve been happy with Valkyrie’s performance characteristics in the first two seasons of competition,” added Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport, Adam Carter. “We’ve repeatedly said we’ve entered an arena with a high level of formidable adversaries that are also several years further down the development track than us.
“We are beginning to explore new areas of performance that we may gain through developing the base car, now that we understand its characteristics that much better after 18 months of racing it. We’re right at the beginning of that journey, and this was a useful and informative start to the development process.”
The test additionally provided Aston Martin with valuable track time at Silverstone, which will return to the FIA WEC schedule following an absence of almost a decade on 23-25 April, 2027.
“We very much welcome Silverstone back to the calendar,” commented Carter. “It is not only the home of Aston Martin and British motorsport, but also the perfect opportunity for some of the best fans in the world to experience the raw and visceral joy that is the Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercar. They have waited a long time to see Valkyrie competing at the highest level on British soil, and they deserve to be thoroughly entertained. We will do our best to contribute to that experience.”
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