Joining the #23 car at this seasonal finale were of course the Heart of Racing’s Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTD of a drivers championship chasing Casper Stevenson alongside that of co-drivers Tom Gamble and Zacharie Robichon; the #19 Van Der Stuer AMR of returning (after injury) Rory Van Der Steur, Valentin Hasse-Clot and Anthony McIntosh as well as the part time endurance round entry from the Magnus Racing team with drivers John Potter, Spencer Pumpelly and Jan Heylin.

With the #23 GTP Valkyrie starting from P5 on the grid, there were also good starting positions for two of the three AMR GTD cars with the #19 car this time topping the AMR ranks to claim a P3 start in class, ahead of the #27 car in P6 but with the #44 towards the back after they had lap times deleted in qualifying. Having been the cause of earlier red flags at the event.

Their lowly starting position into the race also saw them one of the first cars to come across a lap one multiple car incident in class that saw at least five cars sustain extensive damage after the first car spun on the kerbs. Suffering severe front quarter damage, the #44 car of Potter was able to get back to pit lane, but the car was sadly retired with irreparable damage to put paid to their earlier efforts.

That left the three other cars and (for a change) the challenges of the next ten hours of racing would see all three fluctuate from the head of their class pack to the rear as the multiple pit stop cycles and several Safety Car interventions affected the running of the race.

At the halfway stage, the #23 car was running smoothly within the top six overall whilst the #19 and #27 crews had been exchanging positions regularly but the #19 still leading the other in (then) P3 and P6 positions in class respectively.

As the race progressed, the light would gently fade giving way to the final few hours of the ten being conducted in absolute darkness with little to no track lighting to help but going into the final hour, the #23 was now up to P3 overall and the #19 and #27 crews had exchanged positions to now run in third and P11 respectively.

At the end, the P4 finish in class for the #27 Heart of Racing crew was not enough for Stevenson to claim the GTD Drivers Championship with the young Brit eventually finishing third overall, second in the teams for the Heart of Racing and third within the Manufacturers for AMR. The #19 VDS entry would also finish the event in P11 in GTD and third within the Bronze Cup for the race as well as P19 overall within the overall Endurance Cup Championship at their first time of asking this season.

The real headlines came with the #23 Valkyrie exceeding all expectations in its first ever year of racing this season with its first global podium finish upon the second step of the podium – so congratulations to all involved.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

With each class given just fifteen minutes around the 2.5mile undulating circuit, it was the nineteen strong GTD class first out with Valentin Hasse-Clot first out within his #19 Van Der Steur AMR Vantage as he competed for real estate space on track with fellow AMR racers Casper Stevenson within the #27 Heart of Racing entry and a returning John Potter and his #44 Magnus Racing entry.

With Stevenson also the sole AMR powered crew member with any championship aspirations, it was the #19 car who lead the way on the timing board as the Frenchman briefly secured the top spot at the halfway mark before eventually dropping back to third for a second row start to tomorrows ten-hour affair.

Stevenson would not be able to replicate his pole position achievement of Indianapolis with a time worthy of a P6 in class start whilst Potter would automatically loose his fastest lap time anyway for causing a red flag in an earlier session to see them start from P18 in class.

That left the #23 Valkyrie of Ross Gunn, Roman De Angelis and Alex Riberas to try to emulate what their FIA World Endurance Championship Valkyrie co-drivers have been doing recently in Qualifying after Gunn has already placed their car at the head of the timing screen after night practice in an earlier session.

Last up were the twelve strong GTP class with the young Brit again behind the wheel to see if he could better the car’s qualifying best of P3 at the last round of the FIA WEC in Japan with the #23 car also benefitting from test results of their WEC counterparts earlier this week.

One siting lap and a quick change of tyres later, the #23 car was soon back out and posting a banker lap time worthy of a mid-table position before sneaking up to a brief P4 (before promptly dropping back) launching himself into a last second final lap dash.

Despite claiming the fastest final sector of the lap, the lap time did not improve so the #23 will start from P5 on the grid tomorrow.

Photo credits – teams / Series / social media

It’s a much tighter affair in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup – a series comprising the five races of more than the standard two-hour, forty-minute duration that feature during the IMSA season. THOR trio Stevenson, Zacharie Robichon (CAN) and Tom Gamble (GBR) are just three points away from the lead, thanks in part to their outstanding victory in the Sahlen’s 6 Hours of the Glen in July.

With drivers and teams eligible for a maximum of 15 IMEC points this weekend (with five available to the car that leads after four hours, another five after eight hours and five awarded to the race’s class winners), the destination of the title is likely to hang in the balance until the chequered flag.

THOR remains the only team to have won an IMSA GTD title with Aston Martin, having claimed the Sprint Cup in 2021 with Gunn and Roman De Angelis (CAN), and then the overall GTD crown a year later with the Canadian.

Van der Steur Racing, which is contesting only the five IMEC races in 2025, returns for Petit Le Mans with its original driver line-up. Rory van der Steur (USA) has recovered from an injury sustained in a mountain-biking accident prior to the Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis. He will race alongside team-mates Anthony McIntosh (USA) and Aston Martin works driver Valentin Hasse Clot (FRA).

Returning for the third time this season is Aston Martin partner team Magnus Racing, with a refreshed driver line-up. Joining team owner John Potter (USA), and regular Spencer Pumpelly (USA) will be four-times GT class race winner Jan Heylen (BEL).

Title defenders from last season of course, sees the #64 crew hold a slight one-hundred-and-twenty-point lead over Christine Sloss (Ben having missed a couple of rounds earlier in the season) but that deficit is easily assailable for the #15 crew should class results go in their favour.

We also welcome back the #46 Team TGM AMR of Paul Holton and Matt Plumb as the outgoing champion (Plumb) and his team mate desperately look for a decent finish to their 2025 season after having qualified usually so well but not able to convert that into a credible challenge again this season. The #71 Rebel Rock Racing AMR of Frank DePew and Robin Liddell will also be looking to end another year in the saddle together on something of a high as the green car had a tendency of attracting unwanted race ending contact with themselves during earlier rounds for the two crews to sit P9 and P10 respectively in the drivers table going into this final round.

There is also a reappearance of the #8 89X Motorsport AMR Vantage GT4 of Mike Fitzpatrick plus a co-driver yet to be confirmed. This season has seen Fitzpatrick and his team partake within various high-profile races within both IMSA and SRO sanctioned races with his older 16A variant.

The start to this final race will begin at 12:45hrs local time on Friday.



Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

Within that group we will be seeing back the two full season entries from Heart of Racing team as they continue their debut season with their single Aston Martin Valkyrie GTP entry for which this time, Alex Riberas will be joining in with the #23 powered fun alongside season regulars Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis.

Last time out at Indianapolis, the cars consistent improvement took a sudden back step with a disappointing for them P11 finish having struggled for performance within that circuits tight infield circuit, but the open expanse of this 2.5-mile circuit will hopefully let the full power of the cars V12 normally aspirated engine power its way up the order again before the late-night chequered flag on Saturday.

The team’s #27 GTD crew will, however, be certainly going out looking for at least a podium to help Casper Stevenson to the overall drivers crown after he slipped to second overall within their driver’s championship after an equally frustrating and uncharacteristically low P11 finish in class at Indianapolis. It will be the same driver line up as last time out with Tom Gamble again joining his countryman alongside Canadian Zacharie Robichon within the #27 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTD

Also back after their own more than disappointing technical enforced retirement last time out at Indy (yes, that race really was a bad one for all Aston Martin powered crews involved) is the #19 Van Der Steur Racing AMR Vantage GTD entry for Rory Van Der Steur (if fit from his apparent recent mountain bike accident), Valentin Hasse-Clot and Anthony McIntosh.

Their race at Indy faltered from the off as Van Der Steur was sidelined with injury, was replaced by Eduardo Barrichello only for their car to fail on them still in the early stages of that six-hour race. We wait to see just who will be driving the car which has been out testing with the crew this week.

Finally, we will get to see the #44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTD again this season as John Potter and Spencer Pumpelly are joined this time around by the extremely capable GT4 racer in Jan Heylen – someone who is presently leading the supporting Michelin Pilot Challenge Series GS title battle going into their own final race this weekend at Road Atlanta.

Track action for the Weathertech crews will begin next Thursday with Free Practice 1 and 2 before qualifying on Friday ahead of the green flag to the season finale just after midday on Saturday 11th October.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

That left little over a fifty-minute sprint to the flag for the cars (usually in GS) Pro driver with the #46 TGM car of Paul Holton and Matt Plumb looking strong in the top five for the first fifty minutes. The #71 Rebel Rock AMR of Frank DePew and Robin Liddell got off to another bad start with DePew being given incident responsibility for an earlier incident which again necessitated another recover driver from Liddell.

At the restart, Matt Plumb held onto his P2 position but had cars queuing up behind him through the twisty infield – a position that he held onto until the next Safety Car intervention just before the thirty minutes to go mark where on that restart, the #46 was tagged into a spin from behind that would see another podium potential pass the crew by for an ultimately lowly P11 finish.

That left Liddell pushing for top AMR powered honours in that final half hour of racing but even that Scot’s canny ability wasn’t enough to push his #71 car onto the podium by the end as they would eventually finish in P4.

Top honours, however, came again within the GS Bronze Cup as both the #15 Van Der Steur AMR of Christine Sloss and Glenn McGee battled it out again with the #64 Team TGM entry of Ted Giovanis and Hugh Plumb.

With the #15 car leading the class for much of the race, it was another opportunist move from Hugh Plumb on that final Safety Car restart that saw the #64 car pass the #15 car for position in class for another 1-2 for the AMR pairing.

Those results still see the #64 crew leading the way within Bronze Cup but only with a gap more than passable by Sloss should results go her way at the season finale from Petit Le Mans next month.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

The three drivers maintained a top three position for a majority of the race and led 21 laps. Gunn, Riberas and De Angelis each took their turn behind the wheel for a stint during a caution-filled first half of the race. De Angelis handed the Aston Martin to Riberas on lap 277 while in second. Riberas was able to keep the No. 23 in podium contention through his final stints.

Gunn finished the final three hours of the race for the No. 23 team and needed a second-place finish to win the championship, but the Brit came up short, finishing just 1.845 seconds behind the second-place Ferrari. This earned the No. 23 Heart of Racing team its fifth podium of the season.

Mario Farnbacher, Zacharie Robichon, and Marco Sorensen teamed up in the No. 027 Aston Martin Vantage GT3, the trio earned a fourth-place finish after Sorensen qualified eighth for the freshly upgraded GTD PRO team. 

The No. 027 Heart of Racing team steadily worked its way through the GTD PRO field on Saturday with great strategy calls, flawless driving and impeccable pit stops. Sorensen drove the first 50 laps, before the team strategist called the Danish driver down pit lane, beating a caution that closed the pits and placing the team towards the front of the field. From there the trio made great pace to finish in fourth.

The Heart of Racing Team’s racing season isn’t quite over yet, the team heads to Bahrain November 2nd for the FIA World Endurance Championship season finale.

Quoteboard:

Ross Gunn: “It's been an emotional roller coaster of a day. I would say, we got a nice present early on in the race. We knew that we needed some luck on our side to win the championship, and we definitely got that early on. But as Petit Le Mans proves, it's one of the most challenging races in the world and we threw everything at it. I’m so proud to be a part of this team. It's the end of my fourth year now and to see where the team was four years ago to now is just incredible.”

Alex Riberas: “Definitely a bittersweet feeling today. We gave it our all out there, and as a team, I have to say, I couldn't be any prouder of every single member on the strategy side, on the pit stops, the drivers, my teammates, they did a phenomenal job. Ross did one of the best stints I've ever seen. Unfortunately we came up just short of the championship, but we finished the year on a high with another podium and a season that we can be very proud of as a team. I think our worst result was sixth place in the entire year. I think that's a showcase of the consistency and the level of the team that has been outstanding all year long. I can only say thank you to the Heart of Racing and Aston Martin Racing.

Roman De Angelis: “I think the race went really well. Honestly, we did everything that we could have as a team and as a group of drivers to try to win the championship. Unfortunately, we fell short by one position. I’m really, really proud of everyone at the Heart of Racing, and honestly, really proud of Ross as well. The last stint he did was super impressive. Obviously, we know how great he is, but that was just awesome to see. We can all go home proud, thinking we basically did everything we could. I’m super fortunate to be given the chance to drive the No. 23 this weekend.”

Zacharie Robichon: “Our goal this weekend for the No. 027 was to see the No. 23 win the championship and we just came up so short, but not from a lack of effort from the team. Everybody did such a great job. Ross at the end of the race was just fantastic. I think the timing of the last caution didn't help them. From our side, it was a very average race, I would say. For me there was lots to learn, but it was fun sharing the car with Mario and Marco. This was a nice opportunity to be able to race in the GTD PRO class, but definitely an eye opening experience for me.”

Marco Sorensen: “I really feel for both Ross and the whole team, they actually deserve to get the championship. The No. 027 Aston Martin had a decent pace. I would say throughout the whole race, it was nice to be able to fight with the other cars. The race, for some reason, this year compared to last year was actually very clean, and it made it a more enjoyable Petit Le Mans. I think we can be happy about the race. We gained a few positions in the race with good strategy, and pit stops. I’m quite happy that we managed to actually be P4.”

Mario Farnbacher: “I would say we did everything we could to help the 23 today. First of all, it was a shame, it didn't work out, but I think the No. 23 and the No. 77 had a really good fight for the championship in the end. As far as the No. 027 our goal was to keep the car clean and to be in a good position at the end. I tried to learn each time I was in the car. I think P4 is a good result.”

Source material - HoRT

 
“This is it. This is the most important race of the season,” said Gunn. “We’ve had such an amazing season and the team has worked so hard, so tirelessly and effectively. I cannot wait to give it one last try. We had an awesome season and Petit Le Mans is a race we have won in the past. Anything can happen in a ten hour race. We need a bit of luck our way to win the championship, but anything can happen. I’m sure everyone will be doing themselves proud and I just can't wait to get out to Road Atlanta and give it one last push.”

Gunn and Riberas are currently on their third season together competing in the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Heading into the final race of 2024, Gunn and Riberas have a win at Watkins Glen and three additional third place finishes. The duo have a pair of fourth place finishes at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta (2021,2022). 

“What a special opportunity to go to such an event like Petit Le Mans on a spectacular race track and to fight for the championship,” said Riberas. “That’s the dream. That has been the goal since the beginning of the season. The odds are stacked against us, we are 99 points behind the Porsche. However, if there is a place where anything can happen, that’s Road Atlanta. So I’m looking forward to doing whatever it takes to win the championship. Hopefully we can make some magic happen and bring the championship home.”

De Angelis and Riberas will co-drive the same car for the first time in IMSA, the only other time the two have shared the driver’s seat was the 2022 24H of Dubai where the team placed second. The 2021 WeatherTech Sprint Cup champion duo of De Angelis and Gunn will reunite once again. The pair won the 2021 Motul Petit Le Mans race co-driving with Team Principal, Ian James. 

“I always look forward to Petit every year,” said De Angelis. “It’s definitely one of the more exciting races for fans to be at. As a driver, it's a pretty overwhelming race, and a lot can happen. The No. 23 team is in a position to win the championship, so my job is to do everything I can to help support them. My goal is to just keep the Aston clean, do my job, and hopefully on Saturday night, we're celebrating a championship for the team.”

The Heart of Racing will have an additional GTD PRO entry with Zacharie Robichon, Mario Farnbacher, and Marco Sorensen onboard the No. 027 Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

Sorensen returns to the familiar No. 027 Aston Martin Vantage after completing the full 2023 season in the car with De Angelis. The duo was joined by James to finish fifth at Motul Petit Le Mans last year. The Danish driver will rejoin the IMSA field for the first time since January’s Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.

“First of all I am happy to be back with the Heart of Racing,” said Sorensen. “Daytona feels like a long time ago. Petit is one of those races that you always aim to do. The ten hour race is such an intense race, there really isn’t a stint without a fight. I’m hoping to help the team get a good result and we can take it from there. I’m looking forward to it!”

Making his second start in the driver's seat of the No. 027 machine, Farnbacher looks to make his first Motul Petit Le Mans start since 2022 where he won with Gradient Racing. The German driver teamed up with Gunn and Riberas at Daytona and Sebring where the trio scored a fourth and fifth place finish. Farnbacher also filled in for Riberas during WEC event conflicts at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.

“I’m definitely looking forward to the special event,” said Farnbacher. “Petit Le Mans was my very first IMSA race back in 2012, it also doubled as my first win in IMSA because of that Road Atlanta and Petit Le Mans are pretty special to me. It is one of the best races on the calendar, it’s a ten hour battle and is usually pretty intense. I’m really looking forward to the challenge with the Heart of Racing. I can’t wait to get into battle!” 

Robichon will return to the team after co-driving with De Angelis for the better part of the 2024 season. The duo had a high finish of second place at VIRginia International Raceway. The Canadian driver will make his sixth start at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with his highest finish being second in 2021, where he was a part of the championship winning team.

The Motul Petit Le Mans ten hour race will take the green flay Saturday, October 12th.

Source material - Heart of Racing

Gunn was in the driver's seat for the remainder of the race, but needed to fight his way back after a strategy call for the No. 23 Heart of Racing Team didn’t pan out, leaving the entry one lap down to the leader. Gunn drove his way through the field to finish the race in fifth.

The No. 23 Heart of Racing Team is provisionally 99 points behind the GTD PRO championship leader going into the final 10 hour race, Motul Petit Le Mans.

“It was a difficult race today with the different weather conditions,” said Riberas. “We experienced a lot of rain then the track went dry. We were trying to drive on slicks on a wet track, and that made everything a little bit more influenced by luck, and we tried to maximize everything we had. P5 is not the result we wanted today, but I think that that is a solid position for how our day went. It should still keep us in the mix for the championship going into the last race. I’m looking forward to Petit Le Mans and we know that anything can happen there.”

Roman De Angelis and Mario Farnbacher teamed up for the first time together In the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3, marking De Angelis’ debut in the GTD PRO category. The GTD PRO rookie qualified for the pair setting the seventh fastest lap.

On Sunday, De Angelis drove the first two stints of the six hour enduro where he passed for sixth on the first lap and maintained position until the first caution period. During that time, the No. 27 Heart of Racing team decided to pit, placing the Aston Martin in 10th. The Canadian drove up to fifth over the course of the next 16 laps. De Angelis passed the wheel to Farnbacher in fourth at the three hour mark.

Farnbacher was behind the wheel for the next two stints on a fuel saving strategy before handing the Aston Martin back to De Angelis in sixth for the final hour of the race. De Angelis took the checkered in sixth.

“It was my first weekend in GTD PRO,” said De Angelis. “The whole team did a great job. We ended up fifth and sixth with both cars, which I think is a good result. I had lots of fun in the first first few stints in the wet. I also was able to get to race with some great drivers. I had some really good, strong battles and felt really good about the performance. We struggled a bit in the last stint with pace. We hope to come back a bit stronger at Petit and hopefully get the team their championship.”

“It was a difficult race,” said Farnbacher. “The weather conditions at the beginning of the race mixed up the strategy quite a bit. When I got in the car I jumped in with slicks and damp conditions and just tried to keep the nose clean. Then in my second stint, I struggled quite a lot through my whole time in the car. I just tried to keep the car in a good, clean position for Roman to finish.”

The Heart of Racing IMSA teams will be back in action October 10-12 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for the IMSA WeatherTech season finale. In the meantime, the team’s SRO teams will head to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the SRO season finale October 3-6.

Source material - HoRT