Will Aston Martin be the center of attention in the 2025 WEC? [2025 Automotive Predictions]

The strange thing about synthetic fuels is the price

Just kidding, 2025 will be the most popular year of your life… but let’s start with a look at the predictions for 2024. Last year, I wrote something along the lines of, “Alternative fuels such as biofuels, synthetic fuels, and carbon-neutral fuels will become more widely used to fuel internal combustion engines…” However, even in Japan, there are moves toward using alternative fuels, including for aircraft and ships, but they are still far from being widely put into practical use.

The biggest obstacle is cost. In fact, at the Goodwood Revival Meeting, the world’s top historic 2&4 event, held in the UK in September 2024, all participants were required to use synthetic fuel containing at least 70% sustainable ingredients that meet FIA requirements.

According to Katsuaki Kubota, the only Japanese entrant in this event with the Lotus 18F1, 24F1, and 30S2, these valuable historic racing cars could be run on the same fuel as regular gasoline without any changes to the engine settings or specifications, and he did not feel any particular discomfort with the power loss, which was said to be several percent.

However, the price is 6 pounds plus tax per liter (approximately 1,500 yen in Japanese yen!) This is more than four times the price of premium gasoline in the UK, which is about 1.4 pounds per liter.

To be honest, it will be difficult for alternative fuels to increase their market share unless this price difference can be narrowed. However, the trend of the times is that internal combustion engines can no longer rely solely on gasoline, so we will continue to keep an eye on this trend.

Aston Martin’s LMH program is back

Now, regarding 2025, I’m personally interested in the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH, which has announced its participation in the WEC’s LMH (Le Mans Hypercar). Having watched the Le Mans and Fuji races in the 2024 season and witnessed the excitement surrounding the hypercar class with the LMH and LMDh (Le Mans Daytona Hypercar), I’m disappointed that Lamborghini is taking a break and Isotta Fraschini is withdrawing, but I’m also very intrigued by Aston Martin’s decision to revive its temporarily frozen LMH program.

The Valkyrie was designed and developed by Adrian Newey, who recently joined their F1 program, during the time that Aston Martin sponsored Red Bull F1.

Newey then developed his own hypercar, the RB17, at Red Bull, and although it has been announced that he will continue to be involved in the development of the RB17 even after leaving Red Bull, there is no guarantee that he will not be involved in the development of the Valkyrie AMR-LMH in parallel with F1.

In a test held at Daytona in November, the car’s time was 1.5 seconds slower than Iron Lynx’s Lamborghini SC63, but if Newey is to be involved in the development, it will be very interesting to see how the Valkyrie AMR-LMH, a pure internal combustion engine machine that is unique among hypercars in that it is only available with a 6.5-liter V12, will evolve.

Will there be a Japanese driver as a regular in F1 in the 2026 season?

The driver lineup, which has yet to be announced, is also of interest. Even if it’s not possible in 2025, if one of the regular F1 drivers were to switch to the team in the 2026 season, the chances of a Japanese driver driving for Aston Martin Honda could increase dramatically.

So, in the 2025 WEC, where works teams such as Toyota, Porsche, Ferrari, Peugeot, Alpine, and Cadillac are expected to compete more fiercely than ever before, let’s predict that the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH will be the center of attention in many ways!