Aston Martin assumes a new status after Austin: “We are at the same level as the others”

Often relegated to the status of underperforming apprentices, Aston Martin Valkyrie undoubtedly achieved the most notable performance of their young adventure in WECThat said, while not making a splash, the British were forced to see their two Hypercars retire before the arrival of Lone Star. Le Mans, in Austin.

Despite this abandonment, it seems that the work carried out by Aston Martin is beginning to seriously bear fruit. “It was probably our best race so far… but unfortunately, I’m here talking about it instead of finishing it, declared a bitter Harry Tincknell, paradoxically satisfied, in his speech. We had an engine problem after the last round of cautions. I don't know why yet. But starting almost last and climbing back up to 4th place was pretty incredible."

In complex conditions, if not bordering on impassable at times, this 6-hour race was truly eye-opening for many teams. “It was the first time we were really competitive in the rain, relieved the pilot of crew No. 007. I think I'd only driven this car once in the rain before that. So I wasn't sure what to expect... but the car was amazing."

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Aston Martin finally in the big league?

Aston Martin's most experienced Hypercar driver, Marco Sørensen, was speaking in the same vein as his counterpart, despite the retirement of the 009 in addition to that of its sister car. “The team did a fantastic job all weekend. We were competitive from FP1 to qualifying, and even in the race we were really competitive, the Dane rejoicedIt's a bit frustrating not to have been able to finish this race because of the problem we had, but I prefer to keep the positive. In any case, we won't win this championship this year so I take it as a positive point: we are really at the same level as the others and we are fighting with them.

The cause of this double retirement was none other than an overheating phenomenon experienced by the two Valkyries, while until then, reliability had been one of Aston Martin's strong points since the beginning of its involvement in the WEC this season. At Le Mans, the two Hypercars had succeeded in their challenge, which consisted primarily of reaching the finish, but already, eyes were elsewhere. From now on, the balance will have to be found between reliability and performance, where the cursor has already been placed on both sides at this stage of the year. Equipped with a non-hybrid V12 engine, forcing the team to adopt a different approach, the Valkyrie appears in any case closer than ever to its full potential.