RE: Aston F1 drivers help out Valkyrie testing

[cookie1600]

MikeT66 said:

Sadly, I think it looks now like Hypercar is pretty much a still-born concept. I was really looking forward to WEC 2021 with road-going cars once again as the top class.

Yes, so here's the real story. Not that Aston Martin have withdrawn from the first season of WEC Hypercar, but that only Toyota will be in that first season (what happened to Peugeot?) and that in season two we might get SCG and ByKolles. Not even a rendering of what that might be yet.

Aston are apparently only deferring a decision on the race series, not cancelling it:

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/aston-martin-p...

So where are Lamborghini, Ferrari, Mclaren, Porsche, Bugatti and Mercedes in the mix? Ford ruled themselves out early on and I guess their budget would be 10X what AM could justify. Aston cannot spread themselves thinly over all motorsport disciplines and with Stroll in charge of the F1 team, that was going to be the emphasis.

So Aston's decision not to enter WEC Hypercar class seems eminently sensible considering they'd only initially be up against Toyota and that's surely not going to attract as much interest and advertising as F1 worldwide. I've even read somewhere that the LM Hypercar series will be amalgamated with other top series spec cars in a few years with common chassis and engines, so it's even less appealing for Aston Martin to enter.

[napoleondynamite]

Fishlegs said:

threespires said:

napoleondynamite said:

That F1 input will be absolutely critical for negotiating the tricky apex on the gravel drive between delivery truck and air conditioned storage barn.

A silly remark.
What the owners do with their cars is up to them. So they might sit in air conditioned luxury alongside the owners other hypercars, only to be driven occasionally.
That's the reality of having a car collection. All the cars in the collection cars only get driven occasionally. It's impossible to drive them all at once.
There are dozens of P/Hrs who have a nice car tucked away in a garage for high day and holiday use only. Me included.

Hook, line, sinker, rod, and copy of Angling Times.

[TIGA84]

I really don't see them ever delivering any cars at all on this - its over 2 years late as it is and now they've cancelled the racing program as well.

[markcoznottz]

The Hypno-Toad said:

So....

A hardcore, no compromise, racing car that you can supposedly use on the road. - tick

A unique one of a kind engine - tick

Only just enough room for a passenger and a tiny amount of luggage - tick

Costs a massive amount of money - tick

Is running very, very late in its development - tick

And now would appear to have lost any chance of any racing heritage to boost its value - tick

Is no one else reminded of something?


The caparo was a piece of piss because it could excuse any glitches or crudeness away by claiming to be a trackday vehicle. The development issues on the amg one are mind blowing and make great reading. The Valerie isn't far behind, apparently gearbox is the issue.














Hello.

[Duffman83]

TIGA84 said:

I really don't see them ever delivering any cars at all on this - its over 2 years late as it is and now they've cancelled the racing program as well.

I thought that was the AMG-One that had that issue. Aston seem to be very far on in the development cycle. I wonder what the latest is with the Merc

[anonymous-user]

Duffman83 said:

TIGA84 said:

I really don't see them ever delivering any cars at all on this - its over 2 years late as it is and now they've cancelled the racing program as well.

I thought that was the AMG-One that had that issue. Aston seem to be very far on in the development cycle. I wonder what the latest is with the Merc

The car was in development before the WEC Hyper car series was announced - to assume that dropping out of the WEC shelves the whole project is quite wide of the mark. Valkyrie deliveries to customers should be later this year - when you get to VP stage, it's not a very long timeline to get to customer handovers. The hard work has been done, and the testing programme at Silverstone is into calibration, base setup of the active suspension and aero. The gearbox is one such area being worked on - single clutch boxes are relatively brutal in their operation, but offer weight savings, and when calibrated well (a mix of ignition timing as well as the transmission gear selection), they're very effective in fast road and track cars. I'd expect it not to be as silky smooth at low speed as a DCT, but the car's not been developed with rich posers on Belgrave Square as the primary customer base.

The unspoken truth with the Project One was that AMG were having issues getting the engine to pass emissions tests - as efficient as the engine was as an F1 power plant, F1 cars don't need to pass as stringent tests as a road car (that information comes from May last year, perhaps they've fixed it, with a dirty gurt great big particulate filter).

Coupled with that, I understand the pneumatic valve train system was turfed out for a more mundane mechanical system. The elephant in the room is that the car was being sold as a state of the art hypercar, but the base engine is from the early era of the turbo-hybrid i.e. 2014-2015, and F1 technology moves so quickly that it looks somewhat primitive in respect of current F1 engines.

Of the two cars, Valkyrie looks to be closer to customer deliveries - if AMG's latest delivery target of 2021 for customer deliveries to begin, is accurate.

[jakeb]

cookie1600 said:

So Aston's decision not to enter WEC Hypercar class seems eminently sensible considering they'd only initially be up against Toyota and that's surely not going to attract as much interest and advertising as F1 worldwide. I've even read somewhere that the LM Hypercar series will be amalgamated with other top series spec cars in a few years with common chassis and engines, so it's even less appealing for Aston Martin to enter.

You would think that being only up against Toyota would make it worth a go. After the event no-one really cares they were only racing one other team. It is being able able to put "Le Mans 2021 Winners" on all your marketing bumpf.

Look at last year where Toyota raced Toyota. They proudly put their race car next to a load of tumble dryers

Edited by jakeb on Wednesday 19th February 16:36

[MikeT66]

cookie1600 said:

MikeT66 said:

Sadly, I think it looks now like Hypercar is pretty much a still-born concept. I was really looking forward to WEC 2021 with road-going cars once again as the top class.

Yes, so here's the real story. Not that Aston Martin have withdrawn from the first season of WEC Hypercar, but that only Toyota will be in that first season (what happened to Peugeot?) and that in season two we might get SCG and ByKolles. Not even a rendering of what that might be yet.

Aston are apparently only deferring a decision on the race series, not cancelling it:

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/aston-martin-p...

So where are Lamborghini, Ferrari, Mclaren, Porsche, Bugatti and Mercedes in the mix? Ford ruled themselves out early on and I guess their budget would be 10X what AM could justify. Aston cannot spread themselves thinly over all motorsport disciplines and with Stroll in charge of the F1 team, that was going to be the emphasis.

So Aston's decision not to enter WEC Hypercar class seems eminently sensible considering they'd only initially be up against Toyota and that's surely not going to attract as much interest and advertising as F1 worldwide. I've even read somewhere that the LM Hypercar series will be amalgamated with other top series spec cars in a few years with common chassis and engines, so it's even less appealing for Aston Martin to enter.

It's odd that every week there seems to be a new publicity piece about another £1m+ 'hypercar' - in all my years I've never known anything like it.

https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-italian-cars/p...

https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-americancars/c...

https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-eurocars/pinin...

https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-italian-cars/l...

That's forgetting the top cars from Porsche, Ferrari, McLaren, Ford GT, etc. Yet racing remains expensive and manufacturers seem to be hesitant about putting their hat in the ring - for Le Mans Hypercar there was Toyota and Glikenhaus (fair play to them both).

I think motorsport fans would love to see the best of the best road cars at Le Mans - I certainly would, but cost seems to be the (pun!) driver. Off-the-shelf chassis and body racers are not exciting though - look at DPi in IMSA and LMP2 in WEC... it's just not stuff to get really passionate about. Sadly, with the turmoil of the current motor industry, I can't see anything changing soon. Those golden glory days of Le Mans seem a long, long time ago.

[robinessex]

It's LHD, so I'm out !!