The Heart of Racing Event Recap | IMSA WeatherTech - Daytona
No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie Information
Driver Lineup : Ross Gunn, Roman De Angelis, Alex Riberas, Marco Sørensen
Class : GTP
Started : 11th - Ross Gunn (1:35.382-seconds)
Halfway : 11th
Finished : 10th
Highest Position : 6th
Laps : 661 / 705
Laps Led : 0
Pit Stops : 29
Team Notes
At the five hour mark in the race (around lap 150) the No. 23 Aston Martin Valkyrie went to the garages to diagnose an electrical issue that put the GTP car 15 laps down. The crew was able to get the Valkyrie back out on track within 20 minutes.
In the final hour of the race, the Valkyrie made its way back behind the wall with a mechanical gremlin, but the team was able to quickly find a solution to put the Valkyrie back on track.
Chatting with the drivers…
Ross Gunn : “It was a pretty tough weekend for the Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie. I think one thing that stood out for me was the perseverance and the commitment of the team to figure out issues that came about with the car. I’m really proud to be a part of a team that keeps fighting to the bitter end. There were a few times during the race where we thought that we wouldn’t make it to the end, and we made it to the checkered flag. Thank you so much to the team and my teammates. We have some work to do, we know that. We’re going to be very committed to making sure that when we get to Sebring we’ll be back in a similar place to where we were at Petit Le Mans. Congratulations to the No. 27 team for getting a podium!”
Roman De Angelis : “It has been a tough week for us. The race definitely didn’t go as planned as you can see, but that’s part of it. I mean we look back at last year and we kind of had a year where we were expecting a lot of reliability issues and had nothing really. We don’t want it to happen in general, but maybe we were due for it. The whole team, my teammates, engineers, mechanics, they stayed on it all day and night to try to get us across the finish line and we did just that. That’s what makes it important. We got a lot of good mileage, and hopefully we can learn from everything that went wrong today.”
Alex Riberas : “It was a big learning day today. Sometimes you show up to these races to execute and perform and be flawless and today was not one of those days. Today, we went out there with the best of attitudes. However, we encountered a fair amount of setbacks throughout the race. There are some things that we can learn from for the future that will make us stronger for the rest of the year. We will use it as a strength for the team and to keep moving forward.”
Marco Sørensen : “If you take away the issues, our pace was actually not too bad. When it came to it, I think we would have been able to stick on the lead lap for the whole race with the cautions. It’s a bit of a shame we had that problem quite early on. All in all we made it through the first Daytona for the Valkyrie and that’s a milestone of its own. We obviously come here looking for a better result, but there is always homework that can be done. We will come back stronger in the next races, and then you should see the Valkyrie more towards the front of the pack.”
No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage Information
Driver Lineup : Dudu Barrichello, Tom Gamble, Zacharie Robichon, Mattia Drudi
Class : GTD
Started : 1st - Zacharie Robichon (1:45.113-seconds)
Halfway : 13th
Finished : 3rd
Highest Position : 1st
Laps : 661 / 661
Laps Led : 99
Pit Stops : 23
Team Notes
Dudu Barrichello secured a podium finish in his first Rolex 24 start. Matta Drudi is two for two on third place finishes at Daytona.
Chatting with the drivers…
Eduardo “Dudu” Barrichello : “We had a great weekend. It’s been really nice to work with everybody from The Heart of Racing and I think they all did an awesome job. It’s a bit frustrating in the moment when you come so close, but I’m sure in two days I’ll be really happy with the result. I’ve never even dreamed about racing at Daytona and I got a podium for my first time at the track. It was good for the championship as well. We will all take the positives from the race and put it towards the rest of the season.”
Tom Gamble : “It was just a tough one really because we were up in the front for a majority of the race, but you know, that’s racing. I feel like Daytona is one of the toughest races to place either second or third in because there’s such a great prize to winning it. It is a great start to the championship and a good points race. The team always finds a way to perfectly execute. We are looking at the long game, but hopefully we will be back stronger next year.”
Zacharie Robichon : “Honestly, the team did such a fantastic job. It’s a bit weird to say you’re disappointed with third, but looking at how the race looked cold and how my teammates did, I think every single one of us put our best foot forward. We can hold our heads up high, we just didn’t quite have that last little bit today. It wasn’t for a lack of execution and a lack of trying. All you can do is tip your hat to the 57 and 44 cars, they were just a bit better than us today, but we’ll be back.”
Mattia Drudi : “Starting from the pole position and ending on the podium, I think we should be happy. The team did a mega job both race week and ROAR week, as well as Dudu, Tom and Zach. It’s a shame because we were really close to winning the race again this year. We just lost a bit of pace at the end of the race when the track got a little warmer. I can’t be too upset, it’s my second podium in my two Rolex 24 starts. I hope we get the chance to come back and try again.”
2026 Rolex 24 At Daytona Information
Race Length : 24 Hours
Cautions : 9 - the longest caution lasted over six hours
Upcoming Race
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will head to Sebring International Raceway March 18th - 21st for the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring. The team will be joined by its IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge team who will have a two hour race on Friday ahead of Saturday’s twelve hour enduro.
