Rise of the VALKYRIE

Aston Martin is woven into the fabric of Le Mans but it hasn't won overall since 1959. Is that about to change, asks Damien Smith

- Damien Smith

In one regard - and it’s one that really shouldn’t be dismissed - Aston Martin is guaranteed a sure-fire hit even before its new Valkyrie racing car has turned a wheel at the Le Mans 24 Hours. That’s because the mean, green machine you see in all its considerable glory here, and which is already hard at work racking up racing miles in both the World Endurance Championship and the North American IMSA SportsCar series, looks certain to be a new fan favourite when the 24 Hours rolls around come June. And not just with the British contingent. Just look at it. What’s not to love?

Then there’s the dazzling, yet also endearingly flawed heritage behind that winged badge. Aston Martin is sewn into the fabric of Le Mans history - for better and for worse. And best of all, the bit our stunning pictures can’t put across: that certain sound. Odin’s V12 thunder will boom across the Circuit de la Sarthe thanks to the Valkyrie, when the 62-car field is unleashed for the 93rd Le Mans 24 Hours on June 14. Who'd have thought an old-school, pure-bred V12 would still be the favoured choice for a high-profile manufacturer attack on the great race, in 2025? That’s got to warm the heart.

So yes, we love it already. At the same time, for all the aesthetics and emotion, racing cars are ultimately judged on cold, hard results. The big question that matters, then - and as always is: will the Valkyrie Hypercar prove to be a winner?

Not yet perhaps. But speak to the key players, from the suitably named Aston Martin THOR team entrusted to run it and the six drivers who will pedal it, and you sense a hard-edged optimism laced with gritty realism mixed within the touchy-feely stuff.