The Heart of Racing Event Preview | 2026 Circuit of The Americas
The Heart of Racing at Circuit of the Americas
The Heart of Racing has made four WEC starts at Circuit of the Americas over two years.
Best Starting Position: 1st (2024 - LMGT3)
Best Finish: 1st (2024 - LMGT3)
Podium Finishes: 1
2024 - 1st in LMGT3 (Ian James, Daniel Mancinelli, Alex Riberas)
Team Notes
The Heart of Racing heads to Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, for its only home race on the FIA WEC calendar. While the team’s WEC cars are based in England, The Heart of Racing is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.
Gray Newell will make his first home FIA WEC start at COTA. It will be his second time competing at the Texas circuit in an Aston Martin Vantage GT3.
The No. 007 and No. 009 Valkyries arrive in Austin following the program’s first double-points finish at São Paulo in July.
Eduardo “Dudu” Barrichello rejoins the No. 23 squad after an IMSA-WEC scheduling conflict kept him in the IMSA Vantage to maintain the team’s championship lead.
The No. 27 squad will look to return to the podium following its second-place finish at Spa in the spring.
No. 007 Aston Martin THOR Valkyrie Team Information
Driver Lineup: Harry Tincknell, Tom Gamble
Series / Class: WEC - HYPERCAR
Current Championship Standing: 10th
Harry Tincknell
4 starts in Austin (First Start: 2016)
Best COTA finish: 4th (2016 - WEC)
Tom Gamble
1 start in Austin (First Start: 2025)
Chatting with the drivers…
Harry Tincknell: “This was probably our best race last year in terms of being consistently quick throughout the weekend, and then even in the rain, racing the car all the way up to third position. Good memories. It’s obviously the home race for the Heart of Racing Team as well, so there is a lot to be positive about. The team is coming off the back of a top-six finish in São Paulo, which is a track that we know doesn’t really suit us. Austin is a circuit that complements the Valkyrie a lot more, especially the first sector, which is nice and quick. We want to keep scoring points, but obviously we want to aim for the podium, and I think there is a realistic chance we can do that.”
Tom Gamble: “I’m excited to be returning to COTA. This race marked a turning point for us last year, in terms of switching on Valkyrie’s performance, so with a year’s additional experience it will be interesting to see what pace we can bring this weekend. We’ve been consistently in the points this year, so I think the goal now has to be to try and finish on the podium!”
Previous Race: 6 Hours of São Paulo
Started: 9th
Finished: 6th
Laps: 242/242
Laps Led: 0
No. 009 Aston Martin THOR Valkyrie Team Information
Driver Lineup: Marco Sørensen, Alex Riberas
Series / Class: WEC - HYPERCAR
Current Championship Standing: 21st
Marco Sørensen
6 starts in Austin (First Start: 2015)
Best COTA finish: 1st (2016 & 2019 - WEC LMGT3)
Alex Riberas
4 starts in Austin (First Start: 2015)
Best COTA finish: 1st (2024 - WEC LMGT3)
Chatting with the drivers…
Marco Sørensen: “It’s great to be heading back to the USA, and I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel of the #009. We’ve had a really productive summer break, with plenty of work going on behind the scenes, and the whole team is ready to get back on track. Austin is always a special event, and we’re looking forward to getting back into the rhythm of racing and fighting for a strong result.”
Alex Riberas: “The summer break felt like an eternity, so everybody in the team is looking forward to getting back on track. There is no place better than COTA – a home race for us. Austin is a very special place, also for myself because I used to live there and I have great memories from this time. I expect Valkyrie to be quite strong, and I am very much looking forward to delivering a strong performance and repeating some of the success that we had in the past.”
Previous Race: 6 Hours of São Paulo
Started: 15th
Finished: 9th
Laps: 242/242
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: 9th
Gray Newell
13 starts in Austin (First Start: 2021)
Best COTA finish: 3rd (2023 & 2024 - SRO GT America)
Dudu Barrichello
3 starts in Austin (First Start: 2018)
Best COTA finish: 11th (2025 - WEC LMGT3)
Jonny Adam
3 starts in Austin (First Start: 2015)
Best COTA finish: 1st (2020 - WEC LMGT3)
Chatting with the drivers…
Gray Newell: “I’m very excited to get back to work after the summer hiatus. COTA is a track I know well from my time in SRO, though I’ve only driven the GT3 car there once. Thankfully we’ve had some time for testing between races, so I’ve been able to continue working on my capability in the downtime, but I’m rested and ready to take on the second half of our season.”
Dudu Barrichello: “I’m super excited to be racing in the No. 23 Vantage again. Going back to COTA will be a special weekend. It’s a really nice city and is a super cool track! The team's had success at COTA, so hopefully we can repeat that for The Heart of Racing.”
Jonny Adam: “I really can’t wait for this round of WEC. A home race for Heart of Racing and the Aston Martin Vantage always goes well around this amazing circuit. I haven’t been here since 2020 and am looking forward to getting out on track, plus hopefully for the 23 & 27 cars we can deliver a great result for the whole team.”
Previous Race: 6 Hours of São Paulo
Started: 1st
Finished: 18th
Laps: 216/219
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: 12th
Ian James
10 starts in Austin (First Start: 2014)
Best COTA finish: 1st (2024 - WEC LMGT3)
Zacharie Robichon
2 starts in Austin (First Start: 2024)
Best COTA finish: 5th (2025 - WEC LMGT3)
Mattia Drudi
1 start in Austin (First Start: 2025)
Best COTA finish: 5th (2025 - WEC LMGT3)
Chatting with the drivers…
Mattia Drudi: “I’m really happy to be back racing in Austin. COTA was a track I really enjoyed last year. It was my first time there; I think we showed great speed. We were slightly unlucky at the end of the race last year; we missed out on the podium. The 2026 season hasn’t been the best for us, but we've always shown we can fight for the podium, or at least the top five. It would be nice to be back on the podium. I’m sure Ian, Zach and the team will come super well prepared, and we will give it 110% to be back on the podium after our second place in Spa.”
Previous Race: 6 Hours of São Paulo
Started: 15th
Finished: 13th
Laps: 217/219
Laps Led: 0
Catch the Action
FIA World Endurance Championship QUALIFYING: Saturday, September 5th – 4:00pm ET
FIAWEC+.com
HBO MAX
FIA World Endurance Championship RACE: Sunday, September 6th – 2:00pm ET
FIAWEC+.com
HBO MAX
FIA World Endurance Championship 5 of 8: Circuit of the Americas
Track Length / Type: 3.42 miles, 20-turn road course
Race Length: 6 Hours
Join The Drive
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