Aston Martin is nothing if not busy right now. Fresh from the launch of the DBX707 and V12 Vantage, the Valkyrie AMR Pro has now made its dynamic debut. The hypercar's gestation has been somewhat protracted - having first been shown in 2018, only to re-emerge last year in very different format, inspired by the cancelled Le Mans Hypercar project. So it's certainly encouraging to see it in real life. Or as real life as the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend ever can be.
Certainly time has done nothing to dull the impact of the Pro's styling; even photographed on a race track, and even with track-only hypercars having come before it, the Valkyrie looks out of this world. The aero extensions are like nothing else, the ride height couldn't be any lower and the driver's canopy seems straight from a prototype racer. Even compared to the standard Valkyrie, the Pro looks extraordinary.
Seems like it drives alright, too, at least according to Dirk Muller, the man tasked with driving the prototype before the Bahrain Grand Prix. "That was unbelievable. I know everyone says that about cars all the time but seriously, this car is something else. It's closer to an F1 car in terms of performance than anything else I have ever driven. The power, the handling, the grip, everything is perfect."
And, of course, there's the noise, 6.5-litre V12 howling to the high heavens as it nears 11,000rpm. The F1 cars must have seemed quite disappointing after this, especially as the Valkyrie wouldn't have been going an awful lot slower.
Tobias Moers added of the debut: "All of our test drivers, all extremely successful racing drivers, are in awe of this car and it is easy to understand why. Valkyrie AMR Pro is approaching F1 performance levels, and we are very proud of the most extreme Aston Martin yet."
Interestingly, deliveries of the AMR Pro have actually begun, following just a few months after the standard Valkyrie. Later this year the dedicated Aston track experience programme will get underway for customers, taking them to tracks across the globe to really test their cars. If you thought one AMR Pro made for quite the spectacle, imagine if all 40 can get together...
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