Again, double stinting both the FFSA GT4 Series and the GT4 European Series sees the #7 AMR Vantage GT4 of Stanislav Safronov and Alexandr Vaintrub return for another attempt at the Pro-Am crown having finished a disappointing sixth in class at the end of last season. Whilst they had six other Pro-Am classed crews to battle against last season, this year’s deduction to just the Am and Pro-Am classes sees the workload increase at least eight other crews with one crew's race status still to be determined.

The sister #5 Mirage Racing AMR Vantage GT4 of Jodie Sloss has now been confirmed to include last seasons Am Champion David Levy. We know that Sloss entered the early rounds of the UK based GT Cup Championship last season with Forsetti Motorsport to with great results alongside Rianna O’Meara-Hunt, but we wait to see if this entry is much of the same as last season or that of a full season effort for the Scotswoman.

Like most SRO sanctioned series globally, this series will run individual qualifying ahead of race one on Saturday before the concluding race later on Sunday.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

Starting the season with two such cars with Mikey Porter racing the #9 car alongside Matthew Higgins whilst Rianna O’Meara-Hunt partnered Jodie Sloss with the sister #10 entry.

Since Oulton Park in June when the team elected not to take part due to other GT4 commitments abroad, the #10 entry has since dropped by the wayside as their drivers seek challenges new elsewhere, but the #9 car did return with Porter and Higgins with an all-new crew aboard the #10 car last time out at Silverstone.

This weekend’s entry list, however, lists just the solo #9 Forsetti with Porter being joined by an as yet undefined co-driver within the expected sixteen strong field for this weekend two sprint and two pit stop races.

Championship wise, Porter and Higgins have now dropped to third within the overall Championship table (now forty-six points behind) whilst they remain 118 points clear in their GTH class from their teammates in the #10 car.

Photo credit – GT Cup

Having missed the last two sprint races of the Championship around the Snetterton 300 circuit in Norfolk through ‘prior commitment’, the #97 crew of Howard and Jessica Hawkins also had a very brief racing experience of the Spa Francorchamps round having been taken out of the proceedings at the first corner.

For this weekend, Howard will again be under the dutiful tutelage of Darren Turner for the two sprint - two pit stop punctuated races.

The other news comes from within the Forsetti Motorsport camp and the #9 AMR Vantage GT4 car of Mikey Porter and Matthew Higgins reunite again having missed the previous round after their decision to compete within the GT4 European Series at Spa instead, the weekend after their British GT round.

The teams #10 car, however, is again not populated by either Jody Sloss or Rianna O’Meara-Hunt - we know that Sloss would be tied up again with her F1 duties over in Belgium, but we’re not sure about O’Meara-Hunt.

Their places will be taken by one of their #47 British GT racers in Will Orton (this time) who will share the car with team debutant and Fiesta racer Sam Nesser.

The race format to the weekend will see a return to their usual two sprint – two pit stop punctuated rounds per day preceded by Qualifying each day. Having missed the last round, the #9 crew have now lost their overall points lead but do still retain the GTH Class lead from their #10 car stablemates.

Photo credits – Teams / series / social media

That leaves Matthew Higgins and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt to pair together within the teams #9 car for this weekend’s two pit stop races on Saturday only this time.

Recent results from Donington Park, Brands Hatch and most recently Snetterton has seen both Porter and Higgins lead both the Overall and GTH Class Champiosnhip tables with both O’Meara-Hunt and Sloss close behind in fifth within the Overall table and second in class.

Track action begins with just fifteen minutes of Free Practice before descending into two Qualifying runs ahead of the later forty-minute races.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

Coming into the round at the head of both the Overall and GTH Class Championship tables, the #9 car of Mikey Porter and Matthew Higgins certainly didn’t appear to show any effects of pressure being exerted onto their young shoulders even as the guesting #50 MKH Racing AMR Vantage of Peter Montague and Stuart Hall tried to steal their limelight during Saturday Free Practice.

At the end of the first sprint race, the Forsetti team brought home another team 1-2 as Porter beat O’Meara-Hunt home before she and Warren took a step further up the podium for their first class win of the year at the end of the first pit stop race. Still claiming a P4 in class, race two was to be an effective DNF for the #7 car after technical issues.

Sundays opening pitstop race was of a similar vein as the #7 car had been fixed overnight sufficiently to allow Porter and Higgins to power home to another class win with the #10 car again in hot pursuit in second. Roles were reversed in the final sprint race of the weekend as the experienced Warren out foxed the much young Higgins to claim his first class win aboard the older 17A version of the Vantage GT4.

Having faltered just a little bit over the weekend, Porter and Higgins still lead both the Overall and GTH class lead (just in the case of the former) as the Championship now looks to Oulton Park at the end of the month.

Photo credits – Teams / Championship

Brands Hatch saw the #9 pairing of Mikey Porter and Matthew Higgins pull off a new perfect four class wins out of the four available races, but the young duo did have to make do with just three wins and a class third for their efforts within their GTH class.

Those results kept the pairing at the head of both the Overall Championship table as well as their GTH Class.

Meanwhile, the teams all female driver line of Jodie Sloss and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt did lose ground to their team-mates within the class as they had to make do with just the one class podium at the end of Sundays sprint race alongside a P5 and P6 finishes in class before that. What really hurt them was being cut from the results of the final race after they were adjudged to have been responsible for an earlier inter-car collision that took the other vehicle out of the race.

Unlike Brands Hatch, the ‘home’ track of Snetterton should also come as no surprise for Kiwi O’Meara-Hunt as she has already tested at the circuit this year during a team/sponsor day a few weeks ago.

Photo credits – GT Cup / Team

For the all-female crew of Jodie Sloss and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt and their #10 car entry, things were a little more difficult – particularly for Kiwi racer O’Meara-Hunt having never seen the Grand Prix circuit until the opening sessions on Saturday.

Despite her naivety, two solid finishes on Saturday (P5 and P6 in class) for the opening sprint and endurance races improved to another Forsetti 1-2 in class after the first race of Sunday although the car was excluded from the final race of the day having been given responsibility for a mid-race collision.

Despite that, the #9 car still retains a healthy class lead within the GTH Champiosnhip with the #10 in third as the Championship looks towards the third round at Snetterton in just under two weeks time.

In the meantime, the team are back in action this weekend at the third round of the British GT Championship from Donington Park.

Photo credits – Team / Social media

This weekend’s second round will see the two older 17A versions of the Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 again do battle over the two solo and two pit stop/driver change punctuated races amongst a class of eight GT4 (GTH) class cars around the full Grand Prix loop.

Officially opening their new Snetterton based workshops to their sponsors and partners earlier this week, both cars got in some last minute on track testing whilst the likes of O’Meara-Hunt also needing some intensive simulator training having never raced at Brands Hatch before.

Photo credits – Team / series / social media

This time they would be running with drivers Mikey Porter and Matthew Higgins within their #9 AMR Vantage GT4 and Jodie Sloss and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt within the sister #10 car.

Again racing to a four-race format, it was three podiums out of four after the first two races of Saturday as the #10 scooped a double P2 finish within their GTH class whilst the #9 claimed a class win in race 1 before a P5 finish in race 2.

Sunday would prove equally profitable for the Snetterton based team running the older 17A version of the Vantage GT4 as this time the #9 crew delivered a double class win result whilst the #10 crew finished P4 in race 3 before ending their first weekend together in third.

These results place the #9 car at the head of both the class and overall GT Cup championship tables with the #10 car also third in class as the Championship moves onto Brands Hatch in mid-May.

Photo credits – Team / GT Cup

As previously announced by the Snetterton based team, their #9 entry will be made up of karter and GT4 novice Matthew Higgins racing alongside former Ginetta and now upcoming GT4 star Mikey Porter who's already made his mark within both the GT4 Winter Series and British GT Championship. 

The team’s #10 car will be an all-female affair with Jodie Sloss returning to the Championship for a second season from her McLaren exploits of last season whilst we all welcome Kiwi racer and former Heart of Racing GT4 America racer Rianna O’Meara-Hunt to the UK for the first time.

Both crews will be competing within the teams two older 17A iteration of the AMR Vantage GT4 as all crews look forward to another seven-round season with four races over each weekend.

Photo credits – Team / social media

 

Whilst the team had confirmed that Mikey Porter would be teaming up with young karter Matthew Higgins a while back, news from the Championships Media Day at Donington Park last week confirmed that former Heart of Racing GT4 America driver, Rianna O’Meara-Hunt will be making her way to the UK this year for a season of GT Cup racing alongside Jodie Sloss.

Whilst we know that Kiwi O’Meara-Hunt made her way into GT4 racing that’s to a talent contest for a race seat that she and Hannah Grisham eventually won and drove together within the SRO series last year, Scottish racer Sloss is no stranger to the GT Cup paddock after she won the Formula Woman Competition with a prize within a McLaren 570s in the Championship last season.

The first round of the Championship is at Donington Park towards the end of April and will run over seven events with multiple races per event.

Photo credits – social media / Forsetti

“Getting a call from the team to join the Heart of Racing for the 2024 season was probably the best day of my life so far,” said Greenemeier. “To be able to drive for a team that has had so much success means so much to me and my family. I’m looking forward to getting the season started with the team in April at Sonoma. I know that I have a lot to learn about sports car racing, but I know that with the help of my co-driver, Hannah Grisham, and everyone else on the team that I will get up to speed quickly. I can’t thank Gabe, the Bernier family, Ian, Paul and everyone on the team for this incredible opportunity.”

Grisham, who was selected from the team’s 2022 all-female shootout, returns to the Heart of Racing team for her second year after completing her first Pirelli GT4 America season in 2023.

“I’m extremely excited for the opportunity to continue with the Heart of Racing for a second year in GT4 America,” said Grisham. “I am looking forward to this season with a year under my belt and a more solid foundation to stand on. Year number one has taken me to most of the tracks, helped me to understand my competition, and have a better grasp of our Aston Martin Vantage. My goal for this year is to have strong, consistent finishes and hopefully be in a spot towards the end of the year to fight for the championship. I think Hannah Greenemeier and I are capable of this and I’m eager to get to work with her in April at Sonoma.”

The all-female lineup completed their first test as teammates last week at APEX Motor Club.

Competing alongside in Pirelli GT4 America will be De Angelis, who is a regular in the team’s No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. 

De Angelis rejoins Newell in the Aston Martin Vantage, the duo having scored three wins (NOLA, Road America, Indianapolis Motor Speedway) in the Pro/Am category during the 2023 season, closing out the year with a run to third place in the season finale.

“I’m super happy to be back again with Gray competing in the GT4 Pro/Am class with the Heart of Racing,” said De Angelis. “I really enjoyed my time there last year and being teamed up again with Gray who continues to get faster every weekend leaves us with another good shot at race wins and hopefully a Pro/Am championship.”

Newell will begin his fourth season in GT America powered by AWS along with his Pirelli GT4 America duties. Last season Newell scored two pole awards (VIRginia International Raceway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway) in GT America powered by AWS. The young driver finished the season with five runs to the podium. 

The SRO America season will kick off the weekend of April 5-7th at Sonoma Raceway with both Pirelli GT4 America and GT America powered by AWS in action.

Source material - HoRT

(Thats a very speculative comment from ourselves rather than anything factual!!)

We need your help designing Hannah’s helmet! Submit your designs to hj@sundaymanagement.com by December 12th

Interesting!!

Photo credits - HoRT

Last year saw drivers Hannah Grisham and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt get selected from a larger sample group as the team’s first all-female crew who went on to race within SRO America’s GT4 America Series for the first time.

Competing alongside the more experienced Pro-Am driver line up of Gray Newell and Ian James/Roman De Angelis within the teams sister car, saw the two ladies suffer some ‘character building’ difficulties and on track situations only to come back to round off a busy season with two class race wins at the final round of the season at Indianapolis in October.

This week sees the team undertake a similar driver assessment programme around the private Apex Motor Club Circuit in Arizona but this testing a much smaller contingent of just four potential drivers.

All American this time around, sees karting racers Hannah Greenameier and Annie Rhule pair up with US Mazda MX5 and Legends racers Loni Unser and Heather Hadley take to the track under the watchful eyes of many of the teams professional race drivers. Rhule was noted as for one to watch last year and she is back again this year for another go at the ultimate prize on offer.

Photo credits – Teams / Drivers / social media

No. 26 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage Pirelli GT4 America AM class

Hannah Grisham and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt teamed up for the final Pirelli GT4 America event of the year to close out their rookie season together. Having won the Friday race for their first-ever victory, Grisham and O’Meara-Hunt returned on Sunday to double that win tally in an impressive run to another Pirelli GT4 America AM class victory. “This weekend was amazing,” said O’Meara-Hunt. “Obviously a double win is exactly what you want. We came into Indy not ever been here before. First time ever and only one practice session before qualifying. So you could say that expectations weren’t as high as normal. But Hannah and I have both had a really strong qualifying, which set us up well for the race. Friday was amazing, Hannah drove it off the line and we stayed in ‘P1’.”

“Our second race was a little bit more challenging,” said O’Meara-Hunt. “The team has provided us with such a good car this weekend and so proud to be a part of the Heart of Racing. They've done an amazing job. I'm glad that we could finally bring it home for them in the last rounds of the season. Hopefully we can do it again for them next year, but being teammates with Hannah, Roman and Gray has truly been amazing. They're like family, a big thanks to them.”Having enjoyed the podium vista at the fabled facility, the all-female lineup was able to shake off a challenging start to the second race to earn a second shower of champagne on the weekend.

“Rianna had a super strong qualifying, so we were in a great position for Sunday's race,” said Grisham. “She did a really good job avoiding the incident at the start and then was able to make up a few positions. When Rianna handed it over to me the Aston felt really good and I just kind of got in the zone and just kept chasing the gold. I’m really happy that we could not only win one Friday, but then to be able to back it up on Sunday just to prove we did it and we can do it again. I'm so happy and it's really amazing to be teammates with Rianna and a part of the Heart of Racing Team.”

No. 24 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage Pirelli GT4 America PRO-AM class

The SRO weekends are busy ones for the Heart of Racing, with campaigns in multiple championships as the team also competes in the Pirelli GT4 America ProAm championship with Gray Newell and Roman De Angelis.Newell was first up to qualifying for the No. 24 Heart of Racing team, landing a fourth place starting position for Friday’s evening race. De Angelis set the second fastest lap time of the session on the way to securing a second place grid spot for the Aston Martin.

Newell was first to take the green flag, he was able to maintain his position through the full course caution before handing the Aston Martin over to De Angelis with just over half of the race remaining. De Angelis was able to make a pass for the lead within the first ten minutes of being behind the wheel as the duo combined for their third win of the season.

“Definitely our best weekend of the season,” said De Angelis. “Best weekend probably so far in GT4 America. There was no commotion or chaos really this weekend, which is really nice. Car was fantastic, the cooler weather suited it. I'm really happy that Mother Nature helped us there and that aspect, fantastic job by the Heart of Racing, especially with the No. 26 car winning both races in the AM class. Gray and I were able to get a win and a third place, a great way to finish off the season. I think we finished the season with four podiums and three wins, so definitely a good season.”De Angelis made a pass for the lead as soon as the race started, but an incident in turn one forced a caution. Going back green De Angelis was able to start building a gap on the remainder of the field. With just under thirty minutes to go, Newell took over the Aston Martin and was able to hold the lead until the last ten minutes of the race when damage to the Aston Martin forced him back to take the checkered third. 

“I’m so proud of our sister car,” said Newell. “Hannah and Rianna have worked so hard for this. They have had miserable, miserable luck this year. And it’s just so awesome to be able to share this win with them. That’s what this win really means to me, it's being able to do this as a family, the Heart of Racing.”

No. 25 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT America powered by AWS

Newell also competed in the GT America powered by AWS series where he scored his second pole award in the series this year, the first one being at VIRginia International Raceway. Newell was able to maintain his pole position for the first few laps of Friday’s afternoon race on his way to third in the opening event of the weekend. 

In another all green forty minute race on Sunday, Newell started from third on the grid. The first lap in turn one Newell was spun by an SRO3 car, forcing him to rejoin at the rear of the field. With no cautions to help bunch the field back up, the Washington native put his head down and started charging through the field making his way to take the checkered in fourth.

The IMS outing marks the final chapter for Heart of Racing team’s SRO program this year, while the team still has the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (October 14) and the World Endurance Championship (November 5) season finales ahead.

Pirelli GT4 America
No. 26 - Race 1 - started 1st finished 1st
No. 26 - Race 2 - started 3rd finished 1st
No. 24 - Race 1 - started 4th finished 1st
No. 24 - Race 2 - started 1st finished 3rd

GT America powered by AWS
No. 25 - Race 1 - started 1st finished 3rd
No. 25 - Race 2 - started 3rd finished 4th 

Source material - Heart of Racing