Aston Martin has deemed this to be the opportune moment to shed more light on their upcoming Valhalla hybrid supercar, choosing to debut it on track with its more exclusive and larger-displacement (but equally hybrid-assisted) stablemate, the Valkyrie.
The British marque first unveiled the car at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year, though at that point its was still known only by its codename, AM-RB 003, denoting it as the third joint development between Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing after the aforementioned Valkyrie and the Valkyrie AMR Pro.
Sans the semi-distracting livery, we pretty much already know all that is worth knowing on paper about the Valkyrie. However, apart from its rather fetching looks and mid-engine layout, there is still plenty of unanswered questions surrounding the Valhalla.
Unlike its bigger brother, which uses an exquisite Cosworth-built naturally aspirated 6.5-litre V12, the Valhalla takes a very different approach to the internal combustion part of its powertrain equation. In fact, it’s almost antithetical.
Instead of remaining atmospheric, the engine will be a turbocharged V6 believed to be based on a Formula 1 unit designed by Honda, similar to the ones used in today’s racing cars, and probably displacing a mere 1.6-litres.
Thanks to heavy use of forced induction, though, its power figure will push it well past its perceived size disadvantage. Moreover, aiding it will be a kinetic energy recovery and hybrid power system supplied by Rimac for a system output to rival hypercars.
Seeing the pair on track and in action at the hands of famed development driver Chris Goodwin is a treat, giving us a little more hope that the Valhalla won’t be plagued by power unit-related issues similar to those that are impacting the gestation of the AMG One hypercar.
There’s still some ways to go for Project 003 until its projected launch in late 2021, and Aston Martin certainly has the technical backing - by way of Red Bull and Honda - to overcome all or most hurdles and pitfalls of integrating an F1-like drivetrain for use in a road car.
For more on Aston Martin cars, check out our Showroom.
