WEC gets back to business this weekend from Imola
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Whilst the opening round of the season and global debut of the Heart of Racing Valkyrie from Qatar back in late February is all but a distant memory, the benefits of the team running parallel programmes with the car over in the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship gives the team additional performance data coming into this six-hour round from Imola in Italy.
Having skipped the Daytona 24 in favour of additional test and development time ahead of the cars debut in Qatar, that round saw the #009 car of Marco Sorensen, Alex Riberas and Roman De Angelis take eventually take the chequered flag whilst their #007 car of Harry Tincknell, Tom Gamble and Ross Gunn was blighted by the inevitable first round technical issues.
With Qatar being an extended ten-hour affair, this six-hour round from Imola will take both the #007 and #009 cars down to just two drivers as the two IMSA based GTP drivers of De Angelis and Gunn step aside this time having raced their IMSA equivalent together last weekend in the first IMSA sprint race around the street circuit of Long Beach, California to gain the cars best finish to date.
Since Qatar, the Valkyrie has raced at both the 12Hours of Sebring and at Long Beach in addition to a twenty-four-hour test in Florida after the Sebring event with the car now also benefitting from improved Balance of Performance parameters ahead of this weekend’s event.
Joining them on track will also be the two Aston Martin Racing Vantage LMGT3’s from both the Heart of Racing and Spirit of Leman Partner team stables as both the #27 and #10 crews look to quickly improve upon their mid class finishes from Qatar.
The entry list shows no changes within either car as Ian James returns to his #27 car alongside Zacharie Robichon and Mattia Drudi who both enjoyed a positive WEC racing debut togther to bring the familiar blue liveried Vantage LMGT3 home P6 in class.
That is the same for the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman entry for both Derek DeBoer and Eduardo Barrichello who also debuted within the championship alongside AMR factory driver Valentin Hasse-Clot from their step up from the GT3 based European Le Mans Series for a P9 result from Losail.
That is the same for the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman entry for both Derek DeBoer and Eduardo Barrichello who also debuted within the championship alongside AMR factory driver Valentin Hasse-Clot from their step up from the GT3 based European Le Mans Series for a P9 result from Losail.
Excluding success handicaps, the Vantage LMGT3 platform also benefits from an enhanced BoP with power benefits available below 200kph plus reduced base weight and additional energy being available to the drivers.
Free Practice around the 4.9km circuit will begin on Friday before the final Free Practice and Qualifying later on Saturday with a green flag wave off to the race at 13:00hrs local on Sunday.
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