The Heart of Racing announced Wednesday (Dec. 11) that they will have two Aston Martin Vantage GT3s in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona. The GTD entry (No. 27) will be their full-time entry in the class. The second car will be a one-off entry (No. 007) in the GTD Pro class as the team continues to prepare their new Valkyrie.
The one-off No. 007 will be shared by Roman DeAngelis, Ross Gunn, Alex Riberas and Marco Sorensen, all of whom have previously driven for the organization in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Gunn was full-time in the No. 23 Aston Martin in GTD Pro in 2024, scoring one victory at Watkins Glen and four third-place finishes. A strong season saw him miss out on the GTD Pro championship by a mere four points to AO Racing’s Laurin Heinrich.
DeAngelis was originally full-time in the GTD No. 27. He was second in GTD points when he was moved to the rear of the class at VIR due to his car having non-homologated parts. When that happened, the car moved to the GTD Pro class for the final two races.
Riberas and Sorensen ran part-time schedules due to their commitments to race in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The No. 27 in the GTD class will have a fully revised lineup. The only returning driver to the car from 2024 for Daytona will be Zacharie Robichon. He will be joined by Tom Gamble, Mattia Drudi and Casper Stevenson.
“We have two really strong lineups this year for Daytona,” stated Ian James, team principal of The Heart of Racing. “Though it is a little bittersweet for me, it will be the first Rolex 24 I will not be driving in since we started the team in 2020. I think these young guys will do a great job and hopefully we can come out after 24 hours with a podium finish.”
Robichon split his 2024 season between WeatherTech and the WEC. In WeatherTech, Robichon made six starts (five in GTD, one in GTD Pro). His best finishes were a pair of fourths, one in GTD at Sebring and the other in GTD Pro at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
The WEC campaign in a Ford Mustang GT3 for Proton Competition was a struggle. He ended up 22nd in LMGT3 points with a best finish of sixth at Circuit of the Americas.
Gamble made only one start in WeatherTech in 2024. That was in the Rolex 24 at Daytona for Inception Racing, where he finished 13th in class. Previously, he made three starts for The Heart of Racing in 2022 (two in GTD Pro, one in GTD) with a best finish of fourth in GTD at Michelin Raceway Road…
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