The Heart of Racing Set for 2023 IMSA Season Finale
Wednesday, October 11, 2023
The No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GTD PRO entry will see David Pittard rejoin Alex Riberas and Ross Gunn for the first time since the Twelve Hours of Sebring in March. The trio currently sits fourth in the Michelin Endurance Cup Championship.
Riberas and Gunn most recently landed on the podium with a second place finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in September, scoring their third podium of the season having taken wins at both Lime Rock Park and Road America. Though this will be Pittard’s debut at Road Atlanta, Riberas and Gunn are no strangers to the 2.45 mile course. Gunn will make his third start under the Heart of Racing banner during the Petit Le Mans weekend. In 2021, Gunn was teamed up with Roman De Angelis and Ian James to score a win during his Road Atlanta debut. Gunn and Riberas teamed up with Tom Gamble to score a fourth place finish to round out the 2022 season.
Alongside the No. 23 Aston Martin will be its sister car, the No. 27 Heart of Racing GTD entry. The Aston Martin will be piloted by season regulars Roman De Angelis and Marco Sorensen, the duo will be joined by team principal Ian James. The trio currently leads the Michelin Endurance Cup championship point standings by one point.
The No. 27 Heart of Racing team launched the season with a win in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. Since then, De Angelis and Sorensen have scored a second win at Lime Rock Park along with a runner up finish at the Long Beach Grand Prix.
Like Pittard, the Road Atlanta weekend will be Sorensen’s first at the high-commitment Road Atlanta. De Angelis will be making his third start at the Georgia track, after being a part of the winning team in 2021 and then scoring a seventh place finish to conclude the 2022 season. James will make his eighth start at Road Atlanta this weekend. Besides the 2021 win, James has scored five top-ten finishes in the famed ten hour race.
The 26th Annual Motul Petit Le Mans will take the green flag at 1140am ET on Saturday October 14th. Live coverage will begin at 11:30am ET.
Source material- HoRT
Photo credits - Team / J Price Photo
