The Heart of Racing Event Preview | 2026 Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
The Heart of Racing at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
The Heart of Racing will make its first start in Barcelona.
2026 FIA WEC Season Stats
Pole Positions: 3 in LMGT3
Podiums: 5
2nd at Spa-Francorchamps (No. 27 Vantage)
3rd at 24 Hours of Le Mans (No. 23 Vantage)
1st at Circuit of the Americas (No. 27 Vantage)
3rd at Circuit of the Americas (No. 23 Vantage)
2nd at Fuji Speedway (No. 27 Vantage)
Team Notes
A new challenge for the team: The inaugural 6 Hours of Barcelona takes place October 16-18 and marks WEC’s first visit to Spain. It’s the penultimate round, with only monza remaining afterward.
A home race for Alex Riberas: Barcelona is Alex’s home track, giving the No. 009 Valkyrie driver a personal connection to the event.
No. 27 Vantage arrives with momentum: Ian James, Zacharie Robichon and Mattia Drudi head to Barcelona following victory at COTA and second place at Fuji. The Fuji recovery from 16th on the grid highlights the crew’s determination.
No. 23 aims to bounce back: Following its retirement at Fuji after contact with a Hypercar, the crew will look to return to the form that earned a Le Mans podium and the entry’s first WEC pole earlier this season.
The Valkyries look to convert pace into results: Both cars ran inside the top five during Fuji. The No. 009 Valkyrie’s late contact and the No. 007 Valkyrie’s penalties and poorly timed safety car left their finishing positions short of that promise. Tom Gamble led the Valkyries first laps of the season at Fuji.
No. 007 Aston Martin THOR Valkyrie Team Information
Driver Lineup: Harry Tincknell, Tom Gamble
Series / Class: WEC - HYPERCAR
Current Championship Standing: 13th
Harry Tincknell
2 starts in Barcelona (First Start: 2019)
Best Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya finish: 9th (2019-European Le Mans Series)
Tom Gamble
4 starts in Barcelona (First Start: 2021)
Best Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya finish: 3rd (2021-European Le Mans Series)
Chatting with the drivers…
Harry Tincknell: ”Looking forward to getting going in Barcelona. Fuji was a missed opportunity for us and we are looking forward to having another chance to score a great result. I think the car has been progressing really well as the season has gone on and we’ve seen that in our results with a fourth place at COTA and being in the top three for the first half of the race in Japan was really strong. Barcelona is a track we haven’t been to in WEC and we haven’t tested there yet either, but the general characteristics of the track should play into the Valkyrie. We are really encouraged going into the weekend. There were lots of positives to take from Fuji.”
Previous Race: 6 Hours of Fuji
Started: 4th
Finished: 14th
Laps: 202/203
Laps Led: 11
No. 009 Aston Martin THOR Valkyrie Team Information
Driver Lineup: Marco Sørensen, Alex Riberas
Series / Class: WEC - HYPERCAR
Current Championship Standing: 23rd
Marco Sørensen
12 starts in Barcelona (First Start: 2009)
Best Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya finish: 7th (2013-Formula Renault 3.5 Series)
Alex Riberas
11 starts in Barcelona (First Start: 2010)
Best Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya finish: 1st (2011-Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup)
Chatting with the drivers…
Alex Riberas: “This is the most amazing, unexpected surprise for my season. Racing at home, in my home track, in the city where I grew up is a dream come true, especially in a hypercar with Aston Martin and The Heart of Racing. It was just something in a million years I thought would be a reality. I’m going to charish every single moment from the weekend and embrace the joy of everybody that will come to the race. I think we have a strong car and hope to have a strong result there as we showed in the race at Fuji. We just have to keep our heads down and give everything we have. I’m sure we will have our shot on Sunday.”
Previous Race: 6 Hours of Fuji
Started: 6th
Finished: 9th
Laps: 203/203
Laps Led: 0
No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage Team Information
Driver Lineup: Gray Newell, Dudu Barrichello, Jonny Adam
Series / Class: WEC - LMGT3
Current Championship Standing: 8th
Gray Newell
First Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya start.
Dudu Barrichello
4 starts in Barcelona (First Start: 2021)
Best Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya finish: 6th (2022-Formula Regional European Championship)
Jonny Adam
6 starts in Barcelona (First Start: 2017)
Best Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya finish: 6th (2017-GT World Challenge Europe)
Chatting with the drivers…
Jonny Adam: “We finish the WEC season off back in Europe and Barcelona which should be an interesting race weekend. The circuit has always been hard for tire degradation so finding the sweet spot on driving and set up will be key. We have tested a few months ago and as a team, we feel confident of hopefully achieving a good result.”
Previous Race: 6 Hours of Fuji
Started: 15th
Finished: DNF
Laps: 37/187
Laps Led: 0
No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage Team Information
Driver Lineup: Ian James, Zacharie Robichon, Mattia Drudi
Series / Class: WEC - LMGT3
Current Championship Standing: 2nd
Ian James
First Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya start.
Zacharie Robichon
2 starts in Barcelona (First Start: 2022)
Best Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya finish: 1st (2023-European Le Mans Series)
Mattia Drudi
13 starts in Barcelona (First Start: 2017)
Best Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya finish: 2nd (2024-GT World Challenge Europe)
Chatting with the drivers…
Mattia Drudi: “I don’t think Barcelona will be the easiest race for us, but we are going to try to maximize. The team had a test in Barcelona a few weeks ago and they were happy about the car. We just have to stay out of trouble, avoid any penalties, and hopefully still be in position to fight for the championship in Monza.”
Previous Race: 6 Hours of Fuji
Started: 16th
Finished: 2nd
Laps: 187/187
Laps Led: 0
Catch the Action
FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 QUALIFYING: Saturday, October 17th – 5:50am ET
FIAWEC+.com
HBO MAX
FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar QUALIFYING: Saturday, October 17th – 9:40am ET
FIAWEC+.com
HBO MAX
FIA World Endurance Championship RACE: Sunday, October 18th – 6:00am ET
FIAWEC+.com
HBO MAX
FIA World Endurance Championship 7 of 8: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
Track Length / Type: 4.657, 14-turn road course
Race Length: 6 Hours
Join The Drive
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