Scoring Podium at Grand Prix of Long Beach
LONG BEACH, CA (15 April 2023) - The No. 27 Heart of Racing (HOR) Aston Martin Vantage of Marco Sorenson and Roman De Angelis raced to a second place finish in the 100 minute Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Saturday.
After qualifying on the pole position in his first-ever GT street course event, Sorensen took the green flag for the shortest IMSA race on the calendar. Sorensen was able to maintain the lead through his forty minute stint before handing the car off to De Angelis.
“We had a really good car all weekend,” said Sorensen. “This was my first time at Long Beach and honestly, my first time in a GT car on a street circuit. It’s always great to compete on a street circuit because it gets the adrenaline pumping! We really had a good car this weekend, it was great to get it on pole and run up for most of the race.”
Following the sole pit stop of the race, De Angelis returned to the fray in second. The final 30-minutes saw the Canadian jockey for position, ultimately crossing the finish line second, just one second behind the class leader.
“We hoped for one better today,” said De Angelis. “You just can’t be upset with second and it ended up being a good points day and a clean race for us. We just didn’t have the pace of the BMW. We are looking long term and want to win the championship. I’m still disappointed we didn’t win the race today, but we still have to be happy for good points.”
The HOR sister Aston Martin Vantage of Ross Gun and Alex Riberas raced to a fourth place finish in GTD PRO. Gunn took the reins of the No. 23 Aston Martin entry first after qualifying second in class on Friday. Getting through the first lap in a race that notoriously produces a chaotic scene was key for Gunn. Shuffling back to third on the start, Gunn held his position before turning the car over to Riberas on Lap 27.
Unfortunately, the stop took longer than planned as Riberas returned to the track in fourth, which he held until coming to the checkered flag.
“Overall, I think it was a positive weekend for Heart of Racing,” said Gunn. “We had the pole and second in qualifying, but the race didn’t go as we were hoping. We lost out a little bit on the exchange, and with such a short race there just isn’t time to recover. But that just proves to you how close IMSA racing is, so tight at the top and any slight misfortune in a pitstop or different strategy, it can really make a big difference. Fourth was not the result that we intended to get this weekend, we obviously had our hopes higher after qualifying. But nevertheless, I’m super proud of the hard work that the team put in. And you know, I'm really excited to go to Laguna and try and make more progress.”
Hoping to have produced a better result after showing strong pace all weekend long, Riberas is left with hope for the coming IMSA races.
“It was one of those days where everything seemed to work against us,” said Riberas. “We will have to analyze where we were missing out, as we just were not quick enough to be on the podium today. It is a bit frustrating but IMSA is a very hard championship and you have to have everything right to get results. We have all the right people here on the team to make that happen so we just need to keep working on the details to be back up front and fighting for wins where we should be. We had some really hard luck in the first two races so hopefully we can continue to rebound in the next few races. Next up is Laguna and I love that track and have won there before, so I am eager to get back there and build on this result with a strong weekend.”
The Heart of Racing IMSA team will be back on track May 12-14 back in California at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
