Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport, Adam Carter, was ‘satisfied’ with both Valkyrie Hypercars completing their Le Mans 24 Hours debut.
The Heart of Racing #007 and #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercars finished P12 and P14 on their Le Mans event debut last weekend against 19 other Hypercar competitors.
It was the first 24-hour race for the Valkyrie, having been unable to enter IMSA’s 24 Hours of Daytona due to the Valkyrie’s ongoing development process. However, it debuted at the 12 Hours of Sebring.
“It’s a great result for the team,” said Carter, “It’s a huge milestone in the programme.
“We come to Le Mans, and we come to the World Endurance Championship and the IMSA championship because they’re hard.
“We want to race the best competition in the world, and we’ve seen some great racing by some great competitors here.
“We’re now in the one per cent game. We’ve shown that we have a car – we’ve arrived, we’re present, we finished – two cars at Le Mans, which is no mean feat.
“The performance we need to improve, but we’re in that one per cent game now, and that means the opportunity is there.
“We can’t wait to come back next year, to the next Le Mans, and have another go – show again what we’re made of.”
Reaching the checkered flag as means of ‘satisfaction’
“‘Satisfaction’ is a good word for it,” he added.
“We’re racers – we want to be more competitive, we’d rather finish further up, same as everybody here.
“But we also reflect on how difficult it is to come to this race.
“We’ve seen some seasoned competitors finish behind us. Yes, they’ve had trouble, but that’s the point.
“It’s not easy, [and] it’s very difficult to compete at this level, and everybody on the programme should be immensely proud of what we’ve brought together, with very, very minimal faults through the race.
“It’s fantastic work by everyone. We’re not here just for fun.
“It’s all there – the opportunity is there. We just need to work through it and come back even better than we were here.”
Aston Martin (Heart of Racing) has competed in all races so far in their maiden WEC season, having finished the championship’s most gruelling race.
The next challenge in the Valkyrie effort will be this weekend’s IMSA Six Hours of the Glen at the iconic Watkins Glen International Circuit.
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