“This is it. This is the most important race of the season,” said Gunn. “We’ve had such an amazing season and the team has worked so hard, so tirelessly and effectively. I cannot wait to give it one last try. We had an awesome season and Petit Le Mans is a race we have won in the past. Anything can happen in a ten hour race. We need a bit of luck our way to win the championship, but anything can happen. I’m sure everyone will be doing themselves proud and I just can't wait to get out to Road Atlanta and give it one last push.”

Gunn and Riberas are currently on their third season together competing in the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Heading into the final race of 2024, Gunn and Riberas have a win at Watkins Glen and three additional third place finishes. The duo have a pair of fourth place finishes at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta (2021,2022). 

“What a special opportunity to go to such an event like Petit Le Mans on a spectacular race track and to fight for the championship,” said Riberas. “That’s the dream. That has been the goal since the beginning of the season. The odds are stacked against us, we are 99 points behind the Porsche. However, if there is a place where anything can happen, that’s Road Atlanta. So I’m looking forward to doing whatever it takes to win the championship. Hopefully we can make some magic happen and bring the championship home.”

De Angelis and Riberas will co-drive the same car for the first time in IMSA, the only other time the two have shared the driver’s seat was the 2022 24H of Dubai where the team placed second. The 2021 WeatherTech Sprint Cup champion duo of De Angelis and Gunn will reunite once again. The pair won the 2021 Motul Petit Le Mans race co-driving with Team Principal, Ian James. 

“I always look forward to Petit every year,” said De Angelis. “It’s definitely one of the more exciting races for fans to be at. As a driver, it's a pretty overwhelming race, and a lot can happen. The No. 23 team is in a position to win the championship, so my job is to do everything I can to help support them. My goal is to just keep the Aston clean, do my job, and hopefully on Saturday night, we're celebrating a championship for the team.”

The Heart of Racing will have an additional GTD PRO entry with Zacharie Robichon, Mario Farnbacher, and Marco Sorensen onboard the No. 027 Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

Sorensen returns to the familiar No. 027 Aston Martin Vantage after completing the full 2023 season in the car with De Angelis. The duo was joined by James to finish fifth at Motul Petit Le Mans last year. The Danish driver will rejoin the IMSA field for the first time since January’s Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.

“First of all I am happy to be back with the Heart of Racing,” said Sorensen. “Daytona feels like a long time ago. Petit is one of those races that you always aim to do. The ten hour race is such an intense race, there really isn’t a stint without a fight. I’m hoping to help the team get a good result and we can take it from there. I’m looking forward to it!”

Making his second start in the driver's seat of the No. 027 machine, Farnbacher looks to make his first Motul Petit Le Mans start since 2022 where he won with Gradient Racing. The German driver teamed up with Gunn and Riberas at Daytona and Sebring where the trio scored a fourth and fifth place finish. Farnbacher also filled in for Riberas during WEC event conflicts at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.

“I’m definitely looking forward to the special event,” said Farnbacher. “Petit Le Mans was my very first IMSA race back in 2012, it also doubled as my first win in IMSA because of that Road Atlanta and Petit Le Mans are pretty special to me. It is one of the best races on the calendar, it’s a ten hour battle and is usually pretty intense. I’m really looking forward to the challenge with the Heart of Racing. I can’t wait to get into battle!” 

Robichon will return to the team after co-driving with De Angelis for the better part of the 2024 season. The duo had a high finish of second place at VIRginia International Raceway. The Canadian driver will make his sixth start at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with his highest finish being second in 2021, where he was a part of the championship winning team.

The Motul Petit Le Mans ten hour race will take the green flay Saturday, October 12th.

Source material - Heart of Racing

It is not just within the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship that an Aston Martin Racing powered team retain a class championship winning potential this weekend as IMSA moves onto to the Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for its traditional Petit Le Mans season finale.

Having already scooped the Michelin Pilot Challenge Bronze Cup Championship win earlier this season, the other Team TGM Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 crew of Matt Plumb and Paul Holton could also secure the overall Michelin Pilot Challenge win for the team this weekend if results go the way of their #46 car.

For much of the year, Plumb has led the GS class having first driven alongside Owen Trinkler before his enforced convalesce and him being replaced with Holton, so whilst Plumb presently heads the overall table – Holton is some three hundred points behind simply having not raced at the season opener at Daytona way back at the start of the year.

It was also a multi-AMR powered championship title contest going into the final rounds of the season as the #19 Van Der Steur Vantage GT4 of Rory Van Der Steur was not far behind the #46 car in the Championship but a disappointing performance last time out at Indianapolis three weeks ago finally put paid to that ambition as he and Valentin Hasse-Clot can no longer beat the #46 car in the points table.

Alongside these two AMR powered entries we also welcome back four more AMR Vantage GT4 entries for this final round of the season with the #64 Team TGM of Hugh Plumb and team owner Ted Giovanis again race alongside the #71 Rebel Rock car of Robin Liddell and Frank DePew (still the only 2024 Vantage GT4 Evo within the group), #82 Ruckus Racing car of Scott Blind and Brady Behrman as well as the #88 Archangel car of Todd Coleman and Aaron Telitz to help make up the expected thirty three car grid spread again across the GS and TCR based field.

With three hundred and fifty points on offer but retaining just a one-hundred-and-ten-point lead over the second placed Porsche crew of Trent Hindman and Steven McAleer, there are a further two crews who could snatch the overall title at the end but only if those in front faulter at the last.

So much like the headlining Weathertech Sportscar Championship – this weekend’s finale is a ‘winner takes all’ event in terms of Drivers, Manufacturers and Teams Championship stakes between Aston Martin Racing, Porsche and potentially BMW and Mercedes too!

This weekend may get just a little bit stressful for some!

Then to round the weekend off, the fellow IMSA supporting VP Racing Sportscar Challenge Series also rounds off their six event season with another pair of forty-five minutes races over the course of the weekend with two Aston Martin Racing bronze rated drivers again helping to make up the twenty-five strong grid in the GSX class.

Also racing within the Michelin Pilot Challenge race above, we see Scott Blind within his #45 Ruckus Racing entry alongside the #72 Rebel Rock entry for Frank DePew within his second 2024 Vantage GT4 Evo.

Whilst Blind is the best placed AMR powered driver in third, his own points position is such that he is unlikely to improve his championship position much beyond second at best but we are sure, he will give it his best shot.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These time additions did drop the dup down to fourth in GT3 Pro-Am after race one but only to P3 in class at the end of Sundays hour long race for their second podium finish of the season so far.

That is not however, how the story ends for Alatalo and Di Giusto as both will be back with the team as well as former MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo at the end of the month for the final round of the Endurance side of the Italian GT Championship – again from Monza.

Whilst the Sprint side has been the more successful side so far, any podium success at the end makes it all worth the investment.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

Having already secured their championship win at the last round at Dijon-Prenois, there was no pressure upon the two individuals to succeed but succeed they did in this spectacular manner.

Indeed, not to be left out of the party atmosphere saw the stablemates within the team’s #39 AMR Vantage GT4 entry of Baudouin Detout and Oskar Kristensen (yes, a relative of that certain Tom Kristensen) also follow the #74 home after race one to also claim a P2 podium finish within the silver class before just missing out upon the double with a P4 finish to end their season’s worth of activity.

For the #7 Mirage Racing crew of Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub, it was another case of what might have been for the Pro-Am pairing as their P7 and P5 finishes respectively in class were way off what was needed of them to have any championship opportunities within their class where they eventually finished the season sixth in class.

There was also the return of the team’s #5 car as Ruben Del Sarte returned with former AMR Vantage GT4 and GT4 America racer Fred Roberts in an interesting combination for future reference within the ultra-competitive silver class where the duo finished the weekend P10 and P8 respectively across the two races. There was also a good showing from the #1 Street Art Racing AMR Vantage GT4 pairing of Pascal Bachmann and Jahid Fazal Karim where they ended their European race calendar with P5 and P4 finishes within their Am class.

The series returns to action next year from Nogaro in mid-April.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

On Sunday, the De Angelis / Newell duo started from 26th overall and worked their way to finish second earning the Super Fuel Hard Charger Award for the 60 minute race. Newell was first behind the wheel gaining several positions before De Angelis took over just before the halfway mark. De Angelis drove through the remainder of the field to take the duo’s sixth podium finish.

“Today (Sunday) was a bit of a turnaround from Saturday,” said De Angelis. “We had a great result today with second in PRO-AM and overall. It was a really good day for the team. I think being second in the championship is always a good thing. Of course we wanted to win, but the No. 7 car was great all year, so we did what we could. Gray (Newell) did great all season developing as a driver and I look forward to what is in store for the program next year.” 

Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier finished their season with a fifth place finish in the Pirelli GT4 America Silver category. After starting the season in the AM class, before being moved to PRO-AM for a single event weekend, the female pair finished the season in the Silver class with two podium finishes.

Unfortunately on Saturday, Greenemeier had encountered a flat tire on the formation lap. This put the No. 26 Aston Martin Vantage at the back of the field, but both drivers did their best to drive through the field, and ultimately finished 22nd overall and sixth in class. 

“Another great weekend with the Heart of Racing,” said Greenemeier. “Maybe not the results that we wanted, but I think Hannah and I showed great pace this weekend. I know that we had the best team behind us, and I just can't thank the Heart of Racing enough for this whole season for all their hard work and the late nights. We are very appreciative and proud to be a part of the team.”

On Sunday, Grisham started from seventh in the Silver category making it through a four lap caution. Grisham handed the Aston Martin Vantage to Greenemeier who crossed the finish line fifth in class.

“Overall, I think it was a good way to end the season,” said Grisham. “We had issues in race one that were out of our control that put us a lap down, so we weren't really in the fight on Saturday. I think today we're good. We kept the car clean and ended up fifth in class. You always want a better result, but I think in the grand scheme of things, it's been a pretty good year. I think Hannah and I have meshed really well and I’m super grateful to be her teammate and really grateful for the Heart of Racing for this opportunity to compete at this level.” 

Newell bounced back from a tough first GT America powered by AWS race to finish second in the final race of the season. The driver of the No. 25 Heart of Racing Aston Martin qualified third on Friday morning before the first race Friday afternoon.

The first GT America powered by AWS race of the season finale weekend saw a great start from Newell as he maintained third for a majority of the race. Unfortunately the No. 25 Heart of Racing entry was penalized following the race for incident responsibility being classified with a sixth place finish. 

Sunday’s GT America powered by AWS had Newell starting from second, where he was able to maintain position throughout the 40-minute caution free race.

Source material - Heart of Racing

Struggling at the start of the season, success finally came the way of the Finnish/Italian combination during the opening half of the Mugello weekend last time out in late August when the crew earned their first podium finish with a P3 in class in race one before an unfortunate technical glitch during their mandatory stop in race two thwarted any possibilities of any repeat.

This weekend, the #5 car has again proved fast within the rains of early testing but with the race weekend forecasted to be warm and dry – that set up now counts for nothing.

At the end of the month, the team will return to Monza for the final round of the Italian GT Endurance Championship with former MotoGP Champion Jorge Lorenzo again joining both Alatalo and Di Giusto within the car.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

One will be for their already declared GTH Class champions in Mikey Porter as he again pairs up with Sam Nesser within the #9 car having debuted together last time out at Donington Park, before which Porter was paired alongside Matthew Higgins.

Whilst their GTH class is already in the bag, there is still a remote chance that the crew could secure the Overall Drivers Championship as well if results go in the favour across the weekends pairs of sprint and pit stop races over Saturday and Sunday as they remain just fifty points behind the Topcats Racing Lamborghini GTC classed car.

The provisional entry list also details an as yet unidentified driver line up within their #10 car for this final round as well as you see today on social media of a possible return of a previous GT Cup stalwart team with something rather new – but that is rather their news to release than ours.

So we will have to wait and see!

Photo credit – Teams / series / social media

Mateo Villagomez and Victor Weyrich of course need mentioning first as the crew overcome previous seasons shortcomings to secure their silver class championship win with races in hand after their P2 and P4 finishes were enough to see off their closest class competition.

They will be joined by one of their teams GT4 European entrants as Baudouin Detout comes out for one last race after his Monza event within the other SRO series ended heavily into the crash barriers for his then teammate during their first qualifying run with damage then ruling their #39 car out of any further involvement.

This time arriving with another co-driver in Oskar Kristensen (a fellow Porsche racer within the GT4 European Series this season), hopefully the pair will get to see a lot more track action this time around.

From the Mirage Racing team, we have the return of their #7 full season Pro-Am entry with Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub again behind the wheel of the 2024 Vantage GT4 Evo. Sadly for them both, their P4 and P7 finishes last time out at Dijon-Prenois was not sufficient to keep their class title hopes alive so this event is ‘just for fun’.

We then have a second entry from the Mirage Racing team again as Ruben Del Sarte returns to the series with another co-driver this time after he and Josh Miller opened their 2024 account togther within this series at Nogaro before moving onto their main GT4 European Series commitments. He will be joined within his new Vantage GT4 Evo with a one Fred Roberts from Canada within the Pro-Am class.

The only Fred Roberts I know was the one who purchased the former Beechdean AMR British GT GT4 Championship winning 17A Vantage GT4 within which he raced a number of rounds within the SRO America series before Covid put paid to that back in early 2020.

Finally, but certainly by no means least, we will also have the #1 Street Art Racing entry for both Pascal Bachmann and Jahid Fazal Karim again as they see out another varied season of racing together within one of their trusted AMR Vantage GT4’s within the Am class.

Photo credits – Teams / series / social media

Stateside, we see just three AMR powered crews taking part within each of this weekend’s final two races of the GT America and GT4 America Series from the historical home of American racing at the Brickyard. Within the solo driven bronze rated GT America Series, we welcome back the #2 Flying Lizard AMR Vantage GT3 Evo of Jason Bell alongside the #007 Prosport Competition AMR Vantage GT3 of Tim Savage as well as the only AMR Vantage GT4 of the Heart of Racing #25 car for Gray Newell.

2024 saw a big step up the GT racing ladder for the presently still reigning GT America GT4 Champion Jason Bell which to his credit, he and his Flying Lizard team have stuck with all season as he brought himself up to speed with his new car even after his teammate (Elias Sabo) elected to walk from his own AMR part way through this season.

Savage, meanwhile, has been getting to grip with his ex. The Racers Group 16A AMR Vantage GT3. Again, that has not always gone according to plan with both technically or accident induced issues on track that has kept him usually towards the rear of the GT3 field, but again, this is still his first year within a GT3 platform.

Then there is the HoRT AMR Vantage GT4 of Newell. Consistent throughout the season is certainly the case but unfortunately usually only the bridesmaid to Isaac Sherman as the Porsche racer has won all but three of the rounds so far (then two were in second place) with Newell usually ending up fighting for either second or third in class to stand third within the GT4 Drivers Championship with not much else place to go apart from sneaking P2 in the championship from Curt Swearingin if he could.

Then within the sister GT4 America Series, we have both Heart of Racing AMR entries for both Newell and Roman de Angelis within the teams #24 Pro-Am entry alongside the #26 silver entry for both Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier.

Within the Pro-Am class, there is still a championship to be won as Newell/De Angelis stand just thirty points behind the leaders with still fifty points on the table whilst the two young ladies find themselves in the bizarre position of having their names and points listed within all three classes of the series.

Having originally started the year in Am, they were soon moved across to Pro-Am after scoring well within the first four races before being moved again to the silver class in time for race 6 at VIR. No championship possibility for them this weekend but they have already done themselves and their team more than proud already so another class podium finish this weekend like they had last time out at Barber would be a brilliant way to finish the year.

The #16 Skip Barber Racing AMR Vantage GT4 will complete the racing trilogy this season with another new pairing as both Alex and Michael Garcia both set up the racing ladder themselves from the TC Class and into GT4 which one or both hope to continue with the team into 2025.

Due to the extended/combined eight-hour GT world Challenge America / Intercontinental GT Challenge, the GT America races will be run over both Friday and Sunday whilst the GT4 America Series will run as usual over both Saturday and Sunday.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media