Aston Martin to build Fernando Alonso-commissioned sportscar

Aston Martin is to build a road-legal track version of its Valour sportscar – the Valiant – that has been personally commissioned by its Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso.

Aston will produce 38 Valiants, which are to be front-engined and fitted with a 745PS 5.2 litre twin-turbo V12 power unit.

The car also features wheel covers inspired by those used on Aston’s ‘Muncher’ car that raced disastrously at the Le Mans 24 Hours event in 1979.

The car is being built by Aston’s bespoke ‘Q’ production division that allows potential owners to individually style the look of their cars.

“Valour was a spectacular celebration of Aston Martin’s 110th anniversary, and stirred me to create a more extreme, race car inspired version that was track focussed, while also delivering a thrilling drive on-road,” Alonso said in an official Aston press release.

“Valiant is born from my passion for driving at the limit and I have enjoyed working closely with the Q by Aston Martin team on both the design and technical specification and believe we have created a masterpiece.”

The Aston press release also said the Valiant “continues a strong lineage of Aston Martins that deliver true driving intensity both on-road and on-track with the ultimate hypercar, Valkyrie, the brand’s most focused sports car, Vantage and its brother in speed, the Vantage GT3 race car and of course the upcoming mid-engine supercar, Valhalla.”

The Valkyrie, which was co-designed by Adrian Newey and who is now set to reveal his completed RB17 hypercar before he leaves Red Bull, will be entered by Aston in the World Endurance Championship from 2025.

Aston’s decision to produce the Valiant follows Alpine building a track-focused version of its Alpine A110 R car dubbed the ‘Alpine A110 R Fernando Alonso’.

In October 2022, Alpine revealed that it was pressing ahead with building 32 versions of the car – the number chosen to reflect Alonso’s grand prix win total to this point – after the two-time F1 world champion had already decided to leave the Renault-owned manufacturer to join Aston for 2023.

He recently signed a new deal to race in F1 with the green team beyond 2025 that included still-to-be-defined off-track role Alonso described as a “lifetime project” at the manufacturer.

“Valiant is a modern masterpiece,” said Marco Mattiacci, briefly Alonso’s boss at the Ferrari F1 team in 2014 and now global chief brand and commercial officer of Aston Martin Lagonda.

“A creation of Q by Aston Martin, inspired by a racing legend and conceived using the latest F1 inspired technology, exotic materials and obsessive weight reduction.

“It focusses on placing the driver in a truly unique, intense and emotional driving experience.

“The ultimate blend of performance, track-focused dynamics and hypercar intensity, Valiant embodies Aston Martin’s determined commitment to build rare and extraordinary cars for true drivers.”