The Heart of Racing Finishes Fourth at Mugello
Tuscany, Italy (27 March 2024) - The Heart of Racing Team rebounded to finish fourth during the 24H Series’ 12H Mugello this weekend. Ian James, Roman De Angelis and Gray Newell teamed up in the GT3 AM class competition at the Italian track for a second year.
The Heart of Racing saw three rounds of qualifying on Friday afternoon after just one practice session. In the 24H Series, each driver has 15 minutes to set a fast lap time, the series takes the average of the fastest lap times to determine the starting grid. The trio combined to deliver the sixth best qualifying time of the field, but an unfortunate post qualifying penalty forced the team to start the race from pit lane.
The 12H Mugello race is split into two portions, the first portion of six hours and 30 minutes is raced on Saturday. The race finished on Sunday with the remaining five hours and 30 minutes.
James was first behind the wheel of the No. 27 machine on Saturday working his way through the field to sit seventh in the first hour of the race. James and Newell took turns throughout Saturday’s portion of the race pushing forward through the field before landing a third place stopping point overall.
De Angelis was in the driver's seat first on Sunday before passing over to Newell who eventually turned the wheel over to James. Unfortunately a wheel bearing issue brought the No. 27 GT3 to the pits, costing several laps and forcing the team out of podium contention. In the final two hours of the race a storm arrived, bringing high winds and heavy rains while De Angelis was behind the wheel. The race finished under Code 60, as De Angelis crossed the finish line fourth in class.
The Heart of Racing Team will be back in action April 5-7 at Sonoma Raceway with its GT4 program with Newell and De Angelis alongside Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier.
