The Heart of Racing finishes third at the Michelin GT Challenge weekend at VIR
Alton, Va. (August 24, 2025) - Casper Stevenson and Tom Gamble joined forces in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage for IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship sprint season finale at VIRginia International Raceway this weekend. Stevenson, Gamble and the No. 27 team’s third place finish put the team second in provisional IMSA GTD championship point standings.
Stevenson and Gamble made their first laps around VIR on Friday during the first of two-90 minute practice sessions. Stevenson qualified for the duo Saturday afternoon, setting a fast lap time of 1:45.264-seconds securing a fourth place starting position on the grid.
Stevenson was first in the driver’s seat for Sunday afternoon’s race. Unfortunately at the start of the race contact heading into turn one caused the young Brit to fall back to eleventh. Stevenson quickly made his way up to seventh within the next six laps. The No. 27 Vantage was in fifth place when called down pit lane for a driver change, four fresh tires and fuel when the second caution of the race came out.
“The start was a bit tricky,” said Stevenson. “I got hit a few times, but was able to regain a few positions before we pitted. The team did a great job during the pit stop and we were able to gain a few more positions there as well. I’m happy to come away with third.”
Gamble held the controls in third as the field went back to green flag racing. The field was only green for two laps before another caution slowed all 23 cars due to a car catching fire. Restarting from fourth, Gamble battled for third for the remaining 55 laps. In the final two laps a penalty was issued to the current second place contender, placing the No. 27 Vantage in third to take the checkered flag.
“I think we had a pretty positive day,” said Gamble. “I think we hoped for a bit more and at times it looked like we had it. I made a small mistake on the restart that cost us a position. The car was really fast this weekend. Thank you to the team for bringing a great car. We are still in the championship hunt going into the final two rounds. It’s not over until it’s over!”
The Heart of Racing IMSA squad will be in full force with both the Valkyrie and Vantage at Indianapolis Motor Speedway September 19-21. In the meantime, the team will be in action in just two weeks with a weekend that will see the team take on the The World Endurance Championship at the Circuit of the Americas, while SRO America will be in action at Barber Motorsports Park.
