The Heart of Racing finishes fourth in LMGT3 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
Le Mans, France (June 15, 2025) - The Heart of Racing completed its third 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend, as the team staged its largest effort to date at the huge endurance championship.
Fielding three entries in two classes, the Heart of Racing Team finished fourth in the LMGT3 category while the Aston Martin THOR Team saw both Valkyrie machines race to the finish, securing a 13th place result with the No. 009 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie. The No. 007 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie finished the 24 hour enduro 15th.
Ian James, Zacharie Robichon, and Mattia Drudi were pilots in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage in the LMGT3 category. All three drivers were able to get some seat time before the first round of qualifying on Wednesday. James set the second fastest lap of the 30 minute qualifying session. Robichon was in the drivers seat for the first of the two Hyperpole sessions on Thursday, and the Canadian moved the team to the final Hyperpole session with the fourth fastest lap. Drudi completed a 3:52.789-second lap to earn his first pole award in the World Endurance Championship.
Drudi started the race for the trio maintaining the lead before James took over the wheel on the first pit stop. The 24 hour enduro stayed green for a majority of the race with exception of a few slow zones. One of which cost the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team a drive through penalty placing the Vantage from podium contention to maintaining a top five position.
James, Robichon, and Drudi drove consistently and the crew executed flawless pit stops to put the No. 27 team back in contention for a podium finish. Unfortunately, a much needed safety car never came. Drudi crossed the finish line in fourth marking their highest finish on the season.
“My first Le Mans 24 hour experience was positive with pole position on Thursday,” said Drudi. “Considering where we started, we were aiming to be on the podium at least, but we were close. I really enjoyed driving here, there was super nice weather. We were able to score really good points for the championship. Everyone did a super job, we will try again next year and we will focus on São Paulo.”
Alex Riberas, Marco Sørensen and Roman De Angelis comprised the driver line up for the No. 009 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie. Sørensen qualified for the trio setting the fifteenth fastest lap making it just inside the top 15 to move into the team’s first Hypercar Hyperpole. Sørensen once again set a fast lap of 3:25.258 seconds to qualify the Valkyrie in 15th.
Riberas, Sørensen and De Angelis drove to finish 12th marking the No. 009 Aston Martin THOR Team’s highest WEC finish as the first-year program continues to develop through lap after racing lap.
The British trio of Harry Tincknell, Tom Gamble, and Ross Gunn piloted the No. 007 Aston Martin Valkyrie. After starting from 20th the No. 007 Aston Martin THOR Team spent the next 24 hours attempting to make up for a tire puncture that took the Valkyrie a lap down within the first hour of the race. Ultimately, Gamble crossed the finish line in 14th.
The Heart of Racing will be back in action next weekend, June 20-22nd with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Watkins Glen International.
