The Aston Martin Valkyrie was penned by Formula 1 design ace Adrian Newey, uses tech derived from top-tier racing and creates enough downforce to drive upside down on the roof of a tunnel, in theory. Because of all that, it’s incredibly fast on a race track and the multi-million-dollar hypercar has now set a new lap record around the Silverstone F1 circuit.
Aston Martin built just 150 Valkyries, with the F1-inspired road car finding its way into the hands of super collectors and car fans, like Gordon Ramsay. For most of the Valkyries out there, they’ll be confined to cruising city streets at slow speeds or living their lives on display in incredible car collections.
This car wasn’t designed to live its life on a pedestal though, so Aston took a Valkyrie to Silverstone to see what it was capable of. In the process it set a new production car lap record around the British circuit. Now, the automaker has released the onboard from the lap, and it’s quite the watch.
Three-time Le Mans class winner Darren Turner was at the wheel of the Valkyrie for the run, which saw him take to a Silverstone circuit that wasn’t at its best. Aston Martin reports that rain earlier in the day left the track pretty green, while a motorcycle event had disrupted the usual rubber on the racing line. Nice to see all the racing driver excuses coming in early.
Those challenges proved to be no bother for the Valkyrie, though, which smashed the previous production car lap record by more than ten seconds and lapped the 3.7-mile track in one minute and 56.42 seconds.
From onboards released by the brand, the lap looks rapid. On the straights, the car is cruising comfortably above 300 km/h, which is more than 185 mph. By the end of the first sector, this has helped the car shave almost two seconds off the previous record already.
The rapid speed continues and after navigating the iconic corners of Maggots and Becketts the Valkyrie has made up another five seconds. On the Hangar Straight, the Valkyrie tops out at more than 330 km/h, which is 205 mph here in the land of the free and just a whisker shy of the car’s 215 mph top speed.
By the time the Valkyrie crosses the line, it’s faster than an LMP3 car around the grand prix circuit. Sure, it’s a long way off the one minute 27 that Max Verstappen set in F1, but for a car with air conditioning and a windscreen that’s mighty impressive.
“The acceleration and top speed is way beyond anything that I’ve raced at Le Mans,” Turner said in a statement shared by Aston Martin. “With active aero, and the car’s ability to optimize downforce as you accelerate, the speed just keeps climbing.”
With an aggressive AMR Pro version of the Valkyrie already in the works and a Le Mans-ready hypercar based on the car preparing to race next year, just how fast could the Valkyrie go around the world’s race tracks?