The Heart of Racing Event Preview | 2026 Detroit Sports Car Classic
The Heart of Racing at Detroit
The Heart of Racing has made four starts at Detroit since 2020:
Best Starting Position : 2nd (2022)
Best Finish : 1st (2021)
Podium Finishes : 3
1st in 2021 w/ Ross Gunn & Roman De Angelis in GTD (Belle Isle)
2nd in 2022 w/ Ross Gunn & Roman De Angelis in GTD (Belle Isle)
3rd in 2024 w/ Ross Gunn & Alex Riberas in GTD PRO (Detroit)
Team Notes
The No. 23 Valkyrie crew returns to the Detroit Street Circuit for its second appearance after finishing eighth in the team’s debut at the event in 2025.
Most recently at Long Beach, Ross Gunn qualified the No. 23 Valkyrie ninth. The team was running fourth before contact sent Roman De Angelis into the tire barrier with less than an hour remaining.
During the 2021 and 2022 seasons, the Detroit race was held at the Belle Isle Street Course before moving downtown in 2023, where only the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge competed. In 2024, the IMSA WeatherTech Championship added the downtown Detroit Street Circuit to its schedule.
Ross and Roman were paired together for both the 2021 and 2022 events. The duo secured victory in the team’s debut race there in 2021 before finishing second the following season.
No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Valkyrie Team Information
Driver Lineup: Ross Gunn, Roman De Angelis
Series / Class: IMSA WeatherTech - GTP
Current Championship Standings: 10th
Ross Gunn
4 starts in Detroit (first start: 2021)
Best Detroit finish: 1st (2021 at Belle Isle)
Roman De Angelis
3 starts in Detroit (first start: 2021)
Best Detroit finish: 1st (2021 at Belle Isle)
Chatting with the drivers…
Roman De Angelis: “The Detroit Grand Prix is somewhat of a home race for me, having grown up just 30 minutes across the border. I’ve been attending it for as long as I can remember! For this reason, it’s always special to compete there in front of my friends and family. We made a lot of progress from last year, at Long Beach, which has some similar characteristics to Detroit, so I’m confident we can have a successful weekend.”
Ross Gunn: “When I think about it, Detroit is probably one of the hardest tracks to drive a hypercar around, just simply because it is such a short layout and so twisty. With these big cars, it sometimes feels a little unnatural to race around here. But it’s still great fun, and a challenge, which is what all drivers yearn for. We’ve been growing in competitiveness all year, in all conditions, and we were strong at the last street circuit [Long Beach] that we raced on, so I believe we can surprise a few people this weekend. We’ll certainly be trying to, that’s for sure.”
Previous Race : WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
Started: 6th
Finished: 8th
Laps Completed: 119/119
Laps Led: 0
Catch the Action
IMSA WeatherTech Championship QUALIFYING: Friday, May 29, 4:45pm EDT
Peacock Streaming Coverage: LIVE – 4:45pm EDT
International Streaming Coverage: LIVE – 4:45pm EDT IMSA YouTube Channel
IMSA WeatherTech Championship RACE : Saturday, May 30, 4:10pm EDT
NBC Live TV Race Coverage: 4:00pm - 5:50pm EDT
Peacock Streaming Coverage: LIVE flag-to-flag coverage beginning at 4:00pm EDT
International Streaming Coverage: LIVE – 4:00pm EDT IMSA YouTube Channel
IMSA WeatherTech Race 5 of 11 : Detroit Sports Car Classic
Track Length / Type: 1.654-mile, nine-turn temporary street course
Race Length: 100 minutes
Join The Drive
Follow along throughout the weekend using #IMSA and #DetroitGP, and be sure to tag The Heart of Racing on Instagram, Facebook, and X to share the action from Detroit.
