Trials, tribulations and reward for the Heart of Racing team at the WEC visit to Fuji Speedway

The #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage LMGT3 did their championship aspirations a power of good as they came through another chaotic round of the FIA World Endurance Championship to finish on the second step of the class podium at the six hours of Fuji Speedway earlier today.

Having been forced been to abandon their usual plans for both class Qualifying and Hyperpole due to the weather at the circuit at the time yesterday, grid places were determined by each cars fastest lap through the non-weather affected Free Practice sessions. That meant that the teams #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie of Harry Ticknell and Tom Gamble would be started towards the front in P4 with the sister #009 Valkyrie of Alex Riberas and Marco Sorensen in P6.

 

For the second time over recent rounds, the #23 AMR Vantage LMGT3 of Gray Newell, Eduardo Barrichello and Jonny Adam would out qualify the #27 car of Ian James, Zacharie Robichon and Matia Drudi but only by one place again with the #23 starting form P15 and the #27 P16 within another class set of eighteen cars.

Although still very wet in places, the race did get underway with at least no further rain falling (but still looked threatening around the track) did still see two other LMGT3 cars tangle at the first corner at the first time of asking whilst the two Valkyries held their ground before the first of many Safety Cars was called to recover the resulting debris. At the restart, James was quickly making moves into the top ten in class whilst Newell was still back at the tail of the non-delayed LMGT3 cars.

 

Settling into the first hour as the track still appeared to be unwilling to dry out any further, the two Valkyries were still running in P4 and P5 as they had from the first corner after Newell had caught onto the rear of the #27 car as that hour mark approached as a brief FCY was called for debris on track.

Ten minutes into the next hour, the slightest of contact onto the nose of the #23 car from a passing Hypercar saw Newell spin out to make minor front end contact with the outside tyre wall having just gone onto the saturated grass but Newell was unable to get the car going again forcing their early retirement after just thirty seven laps.

 

The caution thrown around the #23 incident took over twenty minutes off the race clock as the track went back to green with four hours twenty to go with the two Valkyries still running strongly at the head of the field and with the #27 still dabbling in and out of the top ten in their class all through the second hour as James eventually grabbed the attention of Race Control for speeding within the pit lane – a drive through penalty for that one was his reward.

Approaching the midway point, the gloom around the circuit appeared to be increasing along with the first speckles of rain with the trackside humidity still keeping the track surface at a persistent state of damp – nothing that would be beyond the scope of the new slick tyres per class as both Tincknell and Sorensen eventually handed their cars over to their respective partners to take to the flag still at the sharper end of the Hypercar class having their race of the season so far.

 

The first pain for the two Valkyrie crews came just before the top of the fourth hour as having just taken the overall race lead, Gamble was adjudged to have crossed the solid white line of pit exit and that would earn the Englishman another trip through pit lane – that would drop the #007 car to seventh as a consequence but that did elevate the sister #009 car up to third.

Another Safety Car for stranded vehicles again slowed the race down again at the final hour but that was just before another incident with the #27 car (this time with Drudi behind the wheel) and a passing McLaren that saw the McLaren spear off into the barrier along the start/finish straight bringing out another immediate Safety Car intervention. Whilst that was the end for the #58 car, the #27 car also suffered a puncture from the contact helping the #27’s slow limp back to pit lane.

 

That left what was then a twenty-minute dash to the flag under the failing light of Fuji but with the #009 still within contention of a podium winning position in fourth overall, the #007 P14 and the #27 still only P7 in class just ahead of the restart. After it went back to green, however, contact for the #009 car spun them around at the death of the race, dropping them right back in class whilst Drudi had fought his way back into the podium winning portion of his class.

At the end, the #009 was the best of the two Valkyrie finishers in P10 with the #007 a disappointing for them P14 whilst the #27 came away with a P2 in class finish at the end as the Championship now flies back to Europe for its two rescheduled rounds at both Monza and Barcelona in lieu of the previously postponed round at Qatar and the usual season finale at Bahrain.

Photo credits – Team / DPPI