P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Aston Martin rules out Alonso, Stroll involvement in Valkyrie Hypercar assault
Instead of seeking big-name drivers, the Aston Martin Valkyrie team plans to focus on recruiting from their existing pool of drivers for their campaigns in the World Endurance Championship and the IMSA SportsCar Championship starting in 2025. They will primarily choose drivers contracted to Heart of Racing for their GT Daytona and GTE Am campaigns, as well as the Aston Martin Racing GT roster. If these drivers show the necessary skills during initial testing, they will be given the opportunity to prove themselves in the program. The team believes that promoting drivers from within their GT programs, as Ferrari and Porsche have done, has been successful in the past. While there is no ambition to have a big-name driver, the possibility of 42-year-old Fernando Alonso racing a Valkyrie after his F1 career is not closed. The current Aston Martin GT pool includes experienced drivers such as Nicki Thiim, Marco Sorensen, Ross Gunn, Jonny Adam, Charlie Eastwood, and Valentin Haase-Clot. Testing for the Valkyrie program will initially be done using a variant of the AMR Pro track-day Valkyrie, with a more definitive car expected to follow.
Source: motorsport
