- Road trip in the Aston Martin Valhalla
- French jaunt in the £850k performance plug-in hybrid
- Part of ‘one of the most enviable convoys ever to grace the French countryside’
- Our man Matt plucked the short straw...
We piloted Britain’s poshest plug-in hybrid through France to the race paddock at Le Mans - and here’s what we learned about the Aston Martin Valhalla.
Le Mans has always been about more than a 24-hour race.
It's a celebration of engineering, endurance and automotive passion, making it the perfect stage for Aston Martin to showcase its most ambitious road car yet: the Valhalla.
But before we reached the legendary Circuit de la Sarthe, the British marque had something rather special in store.
What followed was a 350-mile journey across France that blended exhilarating roads with world-class hospitality, from grand châteaux and Champagne cellars to unforgettable dinners among the vineyards, before finally arriving at motorsport's greatest spectacle behind the wheel of Aston Martin's electrified supercar.
Road trip start point: Ferrières-en-Brie, east of Paris
Our journey across France began just outside Paris, at Ferrières-en-Brie, where the elegant Château de Ferrières offered the first glimpse of the days ahead.
Waiting outside, alongside the brand's other four-wheeled sculptures, was Aston Martin's new Valhalla, its low-slung carbon-fibre silhouette looking every bit as dramatic against the château's grand façade as it would in the paddock at Le Mans.
The PR then told me, "You'll be in Valhalla for most of the trip". Think kid in a sweet shop, but with the nagging suspicion he might accidentally break everything. That's how I felt.
Clambering inside the Aston Martin Valhalla
After six minutes of fondling the car's bodywork to find its door handles, which are cleverly concealed beneath the air channels carved into each side, Valhalla's dihedral doors opened, and I folded myself inside.
Climbing into the Valhalla requires a small act of faith and a reasonable level of flexibility, but once settled, the cockpit makes perfect sense.
It's an intimate, carbon-lined command centre that feels as though Aston Martin designed it for someone about to launch a moon mission, then thoughtfully added a cupholder at the last minute.
The door was pulled shut, my sat nav was set for Les amis du circuit de Gueux, and off we went in what must have been one of the most enviable convoys ever to grace the French countryside, with the Valhalla leading an Aston Martin greatest hits collection.
Aston Martin Valhalla: a guaranteed head-turner
When navigating Ferrières-en-Brie's tight streets, it soon became clear how much you've got to be on the ball when driving a car like this.
Not because you can rapidly put it in a field if you're not careful, but because the world bends around you.
People's heads twist off their necks, and even some hop in front of you for a photograph.
Meanwhile, oncoming cars cause traffic jams. I've never seen anything like it.
As the quieter stretches of road widened, I put the car into Race mode. The exhaust valves opened, and a spoiler rose from the rear, blocking the rear-view camera. That didn't matter, however, as seeing behind it didn't matter at this point.
Nervously, I dropped a few cogs and pinned the throttle.
The combination of its twin-turbocharged V8 and electric motors delivers acceleration that's both savage and seamless. There's no waiting, no hesitation — just an immediate, relentless 1,064bhp shove that seems to ignore the laws of physics.
Your internal organs briefly hold a committee meeting about whether they'd like to remain where they are.
The Valhalla surges towards its 7,000rpm redline, the V8 emitting a deep mechanical growl as the gearbox fires through its shifts.
It's intoxicating, but letting off the gas quickly was a must before I ended up in the back of Ludovic Cruchot's police car.
Doing so rewards your ears with a symphony of turbo whooshes and crackling exhaust pops.
Onwards to the Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa (it’s a tough job…)
After a quick stop at Les amis du circuit de Gueux, where I ended up surrounded by supercar spotters, we continued to the Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa, our digs for the night, before a quick tour of Champagne Bollinger.
Reims' rolling vineyards surround Champagne Bollinger. Greeted by MD Charles-Armand de Belenet, we tasted fine champagne and toured Bollinger's vast underground cellar network before heading deep into its vineyards for dinner.
The evening became an oddly memorable blur, partly because I was still coming down from the 30 shots of Red Bull the Valhalla's V8 bartender had served earlier.
Over dinner, I was sat next to Aston's chief creative officer, Marek Reichman. We chatted about life, car designs, and what resides in his garage, while rain fed the vineyard.
Our final day driving the Valhalla to Château de la Couetterie
The plan was simple - or so it seemed.
While en route to Le Mans, we'd stop at Château d'Augerville for lunch before heading to our next accommodation.
Sadly, I never made the lunch stop, as my sat nav opted to take my colleague and me on a circular tour, during which we passed through the same village twice. Eventually, traffic split our convoy, leaving me alone.
After I had navigated the crowd that had stopped their cars in the middle of the road to grab a quick photograph, I stopped at McDonald's for a toilet break, where I caught up with my colleague who had an idea to pick up food via the drive-through.
Unfortunately, we were behind schedule and missed the lunch stop. Therefore, it was full steam ahead to Valhalla's final stop: Château de la Couetterie, circa three hours away.
What’s the Aston Martin Valhalla like on the motorway?
Having had fun on some backroads the day prior, I stuck to the motorway, which offered a vastly different experience. Cruising along at 70mph, cars would approach, match my speed, and either beep, giving the thumbs-up, or hang out of windows with their camera phones.
Finally, I arrived at Château de la Couetterie, where I gathered my thoughts in Valhalla's cockpit for 10 minutes or so while the sunshine cast over the French architecture.
How could a car be so easy to drive yet have enough torque to throw the Earth off its axis?
Likewise, my social battery was drained, and my thumbs were sore from countless waves and gestures exchanged with other motorists.
The greatest trick Valhalla pulled was making 1,064bhp feel both completely outrageous and utterly approachable.
It could terrify you on a winding back road, yet cruise effortlessly across France, all while turning every fuel stop, junction and village square into an impromptu car show.
Helicopters and grid walks
Cars were traded for helicopters, and we flew over the Le Mans circuit, the cars looking like Scalextric toys from above, before landing for the day's events.
Le Mans itself is a mighty experience. It emits an indescribable buzz, something I witnessed first hand while on a grid walk.
From the neighbouring Aston Martin team villa, overlooking the Circuit's tighter corners, I watched the Valkyrie tear past at speed - the brand's other hypercar and the spiritual sibling that helped pave the way for Valhalla.
Its howl was a timely reminder that there are still places where people gather to marvel at extraordinary machines.
Between Valhalla, the Valkyrie and everything that had happened over the previous few days, it was hard not to feel that humanity had got something very right.
After all, thousands of people had travelled to Le Mans to watch physics-defying machines battle around one of the world's greatest racetracks.
And really, what could be more civilised than that?
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