Podium again for the #27 Heart of Racing AMR Vantage GTD at the 12Hours of Sebring

Sunday, March 16, 2025

The Aston Martin Vantage recorded its fourth GT podium finish in the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring following a brilliant fightback by The Heart of Racing in the final hours of one of global motorsport’s most gruelling events.

Third place in the GTD class for 2021 IMSA GTD title winner and 2023 European Le Mans Series GTE champion Zacharie Robichon, Aston Martin THOR team WEC Valkyrie driver Tom Gamble and FIA WEC LMGT3 podium finisher Casper Stevenson – marked the second podium finish in a row for the team. The trio also finished third in the season opening Rolex 24 at Daytona in January, sharing the car on that occasion with Aston Martin works driver Mattia Drudi.

Robichon, who qualified sixth in class, quickly put the car among the leaders and established THOR firmly in second place in the early hours of the race. A problem with a sensor meant Gamble was then forced to make an extra stop during his first stint, dropping the trio out of sequence with the field.

But THOR worked its way back into contention, running either in the lead of the class or 10th depending on which side of the fuel strategy they were on. A full-course yellow in the eighth hour brought the trio back on sequence and into contention, but then Stevenson had an unfortunate spin just before sundown at Turn 17. With no damage to the Vantage, the Englishman recovered well, handing the car over to Gamble in the lead of the class.

Gamble then returned to the race for the final stints in seventh and began a stellar drive back to the front. Assisted by a late full course yellow in the last 30 minutes of the race, the Briton was embroiled in a massive eight-car scrap for the class victory. With less than 10 minutes remaining, two rivals in front ran into issues, allowing Gamble to take the chequered flag in third place.

“The guys in the #27 Vantage did an awesome job,” said THOR team principal Ian James, “The crew executed marvellously throughout the whole race. We had some challenges to overcome, but the sign of a good team is when you are down, you keep bouncing back and we did. We’ve secured our second podium in a row and we’re right there in the championship hunt.”

The result marked the third time THOR had recorded a podium finish at Sebring. James, De Angelis and Darren Turner finished second in GTD in 2020, while in 2021 James and De Angelis shared second place with Gunn.