Aston Martin Valkyrie Could Beat Porsche 919 Evo’s Nurburgring lap Record

A few days ago, Porsche destroyed a long standing all-time lap record of the Nurburgring Nordschleife in a 919 Evo. Now, Red Bull Racing team principle Christian Horner has said that the Valkyrie hypercar could one up Porsche’s 5 min 19.545 time.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Austrian GP, Horner said that the Valkyrie had a better chance of beating Porsche’s record than an F1 car. “I’m not sure a Formula 1 car could actually do it, but I think that the Valkyrie — certainly the track version of the Valkyrie — could be a contender,” he said.

It’s not the first time that such a claim has been made about the Valkyrie’s performance. When the hypercar was first announced, Aston’s CEO Andy Palmer himself promised that it will “lap Silverstone as fast as an F1 car”.

If the Valkyrie is going to stand on its promises, it will require unprecedented levels of downforce and an unparalleled power to weight ratio. Sources at Gaydon have suggested the Valkyrie will generate up to 4000 lbs (1816 kg) of downforce at top speed and Adrian Newey, Red Bull’s engineering boss and chief designer on the Valkyrie project is still tweaking the exterior for an even better aerodynamic performance.

The Aston Martin Valkyrie will use a Cosworth-built 6.5-liter V12 producing 1000 hp. The naturally aspirated engine is also assisted by an electric motor which adds another 130 hp, taking the combined output to 1130 hp. The kerb-weight of the Valkyrie in kilograms is expected to be less than its horsepower figures resulting in a power to weight ratio better than 1:1. There will obviously be an extensive use of carbon fiber and several components and materials used on the car are more advanced than those used on the latest F1 cars.

The Valkyrie AMR Pro is a track version of the hybrid hypercar. It will have the same 6.5-litre naturally-aspirated V12 engine as the road car, however it will been turned up to produce even more power and torque.

On paper, the Valkyrie surely looks like a match for the Porsche 919 Evo. Whether it can beat the unrestricted Le Mans racer on one of the world’s toughest race tracks remains to be seen.