MOTORING NEWS - Since the first reveal of the Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar in July 2016, Aston Martin and Red Bull Advanced Technologies have been working intensively to further develop the Valkyrie's aerodynamics, body styling and cockpit.

The teardrop-shaped cockpit's upper body surfaces and lower tub contours follow the space available between the huge full-length Venturi tunnels that run either side of the cockpit floor. 

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Drawing huge quantities of air beneath the car to feed the rear diffuser, these tunnels are the key to generating the Aston Martin Valkyrie's extraordinary levels of downforce while keeping the upper body surfaces free from additional aerodynamic devices that would spoil the purity of the styling.

To maximise interior space the seats are mounted directly, with occupants adopting a reclined 'feet-up' position reminiscent of today's Formula One and Le Mans Prototype race cars. 

This ensures the driver and passenger are very safe, perfectly supported and feel completely one with the car.

A four-point harness comes as standard, while an optional six-point harness will be offered for those who intend to do more track driving.

The Aston Martin Design team was keen to keep distractions to a minimum and focus the driver on the road. To this end all switch gear is located on the steering wheel, with all the vital signs shown on a single OLED display screen. 

The steering wheel is detachable, both to aid ingress and egress and to serve as an additional security device.

Great attention has been taken with the glasshouse design to ensure good forward and peripheral side-to-side vision. To avoid any unwanted aerodynamic disturbance, the traditional door mirrors have been replaced by discreetly mounted rear-facing cameras in each of the Aston Martin Valkyrie's flanks.

These feed two displays which are positioned at the base of each A-post to mimic the view provided by conventional door mirrors. 

The all-enveloping bodywork and roof-mounted engine air intake means there is no rear window, negating the requirement for a rearview mirror.

Matt Hill, Aston Martin creative director of interiors, said of the Aston Martin Valkyrie's cockpit design: "It's been a tremendous challenge to make the interior packaging work. We've embraced Red Bull Racing's Formula One ethos and approached from a different angle than conventional road car design. You really do have to sit in it to believe there is really space for two large adults."

While the essence of the original Aston Martin Valkyrie exterior design remains unchanged, the team's pursuit of downforce and aerodynamic efficiency has driven many detail changes to the bodywork.

One of the biggest changes in this latest model are openings in the body surface between the cockpit and front wheel arches. It was found that they were the key to achieving considerable gains in front downforce. 

It was then the job of the Aston Martin design team to integrate these new apertures into the overall design and ensure they had aesthetic merit as well as the aerodynamic function.

The Aston Martin Valkyrie also features some delightful details. The most striking are the headlights, which take inspiration from the pure functionality of a Formula One car's components.

With the low and high beam elements attached to an intricate exposed anodised aluminium frame, not only are the headlamp units a work of art, but they are 30 to 40% lighter than the lightest production headlamps available.

The same approach has been taken with the Aston Martin 'wings' badge that adorns the nose. 

The regular badge was considered too heavy and a sticker not befitting a car of the Aston Martin Valkyrie's quality and cutting-edge nature.

So the Aston Martin design Team came up with a chemically etched aluminium badge just 70 microns thick. 

That's 30% thinner than a human hair and 99,4% per cent lighter than the regular enamel wings badge. 

The badge is attached to the painted body and covered with a perfectly smooth coat of lacquer.

Further detail innovation can be found at the rear of the car, with the centre high mounted stop light. Mounted on the tip of a small shark's fin that runs down the spine of the Aston Martin Valkyrie's airbox and rear bodywork, the light is just 5,5mm wide and 9,5mm high. Illuminated by a red LED, it is the world's smallest.

Aston Martin creative director of exterior design, Miles Nurnberger, said of the Valkyrie's design evolution: "Much of what you see is actually the structure of the car.

 The remaining areas of non-structural bodywork are still subject to evolution and change as we continue to explore ways of finding more downforce. The new outlets in the body are a case in point. 

Ordinarily the last thing we'd want to do to one of our surfaces is cut a hole in it, but these vents work the front wings so much harder that they've found a significant gain in front downforce. 

The fact that they are so effective gives them their own functional beauty. That they also serve as windows through which to view the fabulous wing section front wishbones is a welcome bonus."

The Valkyrie is set for production in 2018. Aston Martin says the design may still change before it reaches owners, but it's about 95% complete.

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