The Heart of Racing finishes double-header weekend with fifth in Canada
The No. 009 secured best qualifying position for Aston Martin THOR Team in Brazil
(July 15, 2025) - The Heart of Racing competed on both sides of the equator on Sunday with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, while the World Endurance Championship completed its sixth round of the season at Autódromo Jóse Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil. The Heart of Racing also made its first Goodwood Festival of Speed appearance with Ross Gunn showing the Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie.
Casper Stevenson and Roman De Angelis secure fifth at CTMP
The Heart of Racing Team’s No. 27 IMSA squad overcame several difficulties throughout the weekend to finish on a high note. The racing community came to the team’s aid after the team’s transporter had an issue on the way to the Canadian border. After piecing together borrowed equipment to replace what couldn’t make the trip north, the team showed great pace in the first practice session.
Unfortunately the team endured an incident during the second practice session causing a red flag. The Heart of Racing Team thrashed for four hours to make sure the car was ready for qualifying on Saturday afternoon. Stevenson qualified the No. 27 Heart of Racing Vantage in fourth with his second fastest lap time, the first was discounted due to causing a red flag in practice.
Stevenson maintained position during his all green 50 minute stint, before De Angelis took over the wheel. The Canadian made a last minute dive into the pits with an hour to go alongside the leaders from third with several cars not electing to pit at that time, De Angelis rejoined the field in sixth.
With 30 minutes to go, De Angelis was setting the fastest laps in the GTD field, when a caution slowed everyone down. There was one green flag lap with 15 minutes remaining before the race ended under caution. De Angelis took the checkered fifth.
“It was a good top five for my first time back in the Vantage since Daytona,” said De Angelis. “The No. 27 team is fighting for a championship so it was really important to not only get a clean finish, but to gain some points in the process. It’s a shame we couldn’t beat the No. 57 today, we just didn’t have the pace that they did. I was happy to be back with No. 27 crew, they did a great job putting the car back together after our incident in the second practice session.”
Up and down weekend on track for The Heart of Racing in São Paulo
Ian James, Zacharie Robichon, and Mattia Drudi teamed up in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage in WEC’s LMGT3 category. James qualified for the trio securing a sixth row starting position in the 6 Hours of São Paulo.
James immediately made his way to tenth at the start of the race. James was showing good pace, when contact from another GT car forced the Vantage to spin out. James rejoined the field in eighteenth. Though there was minor damage to the car, the team spent the remaining five and a half hours trying to make up positions. Unfortunately with no safety cars to help bunch the field, the team wasn’t able to recover as they would have hoped. Drudi ultimately finished fourteenth.
Alex Riberas and Marco Sørensen and the No. 009 Aston Martin THOR Team finished thirteenth for the six hour enduro. Riberas qualified for the duo on Saturday afternoon, the Spaniard missed Hyperpole by just one spot earning the team’s highest qualifying position of eleventh, after setting a fast lap of 1:23.710 seconds. Riberas and Sørensen battled within the top eight of the field for most of the race, but crossed the finish line in thirteenth.
The all-English No. 007 Aston Martin Valkyrie lineup of Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble secured a sixteenth place finish. The Valkyrie started from twelfth, moving up one position after Tincknell qualified thirteenth. An unfortunate start to the race forced the Valkyrie back to eighteenth. Between flawless pit stops and great driving, Tincknell and Gamble were able to make their way to sixteenth.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will take on Road America next with all categories back on track, August 1-3rd. The World Endurance Championship will take the month of August off and will be back on track at Circuit of the Americas, September 5-7th. The Heart of Racing will be back in action next weekend with SRO America at VIRginia International Raceway.
