Back to VIR with IMSAs GT only event but with less power for the AMR Vantage GTD crews
Wednesday, August 23, 2023
Having seen further class success at the previous round from Road America however, the Balance of Performance bubble of the Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTD has finally been burst by IMSA as the platform will run from this weekend from with both less power and less fuel capacity.
Three podiums including two race wins on the bounce later for the #23 Heart of Racing AMR crew of Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas has seen the series take action to ‘redress’ an apparent imbalance between the Aston Martin against its rivals equipment.
That is of course rotten luck for the crew after the results from Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Lime Rock and most recently from Road America has seen that GTD Pro crew elevate themselves back into contention within the class after something of a poor start in fifth in the Championship but still some 342-points back from the untethered Lexus with three rounds (including VIR) remaining.
That is of course rotten luck for the crew after the results from Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Lime Rock and most recently from Road America has seen that GTD Pro crew elevate themselves back into contention within the class after something of a poor start in fifth in the Championship but still some 342-points back from the untethered Lexus with three rounds (including VIR) remaining.
Also running will be the twenty strong GTD class only event will be the #27 Heart of Racing AMR Vantage GTD of Roman De Angelis and Marco Sorenson who also enjoyed class winning success of their own in recent events but not at Road America where they had to settle for a P7 in class finish.
These results sees last season’s champion (De Angelis) and Sorenson drop to second within the drivers table with a 206-point deficit to the BMW M4 GTD crew of Madison Snow and Bryan Sellars with (again) three rounds remaining.
The championship positions for both Heart crews made the result of VIR round pivotable to their respective Championship chances before the season runs itself out at both Indianapolis and Road Atlanta.
Again listed within the provisional entry list this week, sees the #94 Andretti Autosport AMR Vantage GTD of Jarred Andretti and Gabby Chaves also for VIR but they too were also listed for Road America when they didn’t actually run so we will wait to see with them.
Photo credits – Team / Series / J Price
Photo credits – Team / Series / J Price
