‘We won Daytona!!‘
Monday, January 30, 2023
The Heart of Racing (HOR) won their first victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Sunday, winning in the GTD category as the season-opening. The team’s win is Aston Martin’s first Daytona victory in the long-running event staged at the World Center of Racing.
Defending GTD champion Roman De Angelis returned to the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3, joining full-season co-driver Marco Sorenson, Darren Turner and Ian James. The team led 176 laps in the class leading to a breakthrough triumph in the endurance event.
The win was the first Rolex 24 At Daytona victory for all four drivers after HOR delivered 24 hours of well-executed pit stops and strategy to cross the finish line over five seconds clear of the pursuing GTD field.
The No. 27 Aston Martin HOR team also brought home the Michelin Endurance Cup: an award for receiving the best in-class position at the hour marks of six, twelve, eighteen and twenty-four throughout the race. Sorenson, the 2022 GTE Am winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Aston Martin, also turned the fastest lap in the class, 1:46.078-seconds.
In addition to winning the GTD class, Heart of Racing was competitive in GTD Pro with the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 before a suspension problem compromised the car and its leading position.
The team of Alex Riberas, Ross Gunn, and David Pittard in No. 23 led 208 laps before being forced off track with the suspension failure 14 hours into the event. While the team was able to diagnose and rectify the issue in just 25 minutes, the long green flag runs and competitive field took away podium hopes for the GTD PRO team. The car was able to finish the race and came home seventh in class.
Source material - HoRT
