Daytona Beach, Fla. (January 26, 2025) - The Heart of Racing Team’s No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GTD entry finished third in class on Sunday following the 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona. Making their first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship start, Casper Stevenson and Mattia Drudi teamed up with Rolex 24 veterans Zacharie Robichon and Tom Gamble to score the team’s first podium of the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech season. 

Robichon qualified for the No. 27 squad on Thursday, taking a seventh place starting position with a 1:46.905-second lap. The Canadian started the race for the GTD team, Robichon made his way up to second before handing the Aston Martin Vantage to Stevenson. Stevenson was able to lead for 23-laps before passing the car to Gamble within the first four hours of the enduro. 

Over the course of the next 20 hours, Stevenson, Drudi, Robichon, and Gamble led 118 total laps as the team executed on strategy and pit stop performance. The podium run included a strong fight back, after Stevenson and Drudi both suffered from spins not of fault of their own. With 15 minutes remaining in the race, Drudi was leading in the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage. After a run in with a Corvette, the Vantage was forced back to third where Drudi crossed the finish line after 24 hours of hard fought racing. 

Unfortunately for Roman De Angelis, Ross Gunn, Alex Riberas, and Marco Sorensen, their night ended early due to a mechanical failure on lap 232. The trio of Gunn, Riberas, and Sorensen was able to make their way into the top-five after starting from tenth in class. De Angelis had just got behind the wheel of the No. 007 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage when the right rear wheel fell off just five laps into his stint. 

The Heart of Racing Team will be back in action next weekend at Bathurst 12 Hour January 31 - February 2 before heading to Qatar in late February for the World Endurance Championship opening weekend. 

Heart of Racing Rolex 24 At Daytona Team Quote Board: 

Zacharie Robichon : “I think we got the absolute maximum out of what we had today and really, that's all we can ask for. Some days you finish second and you're disappointed because you feel like you deserve to win. Other days, you finish third, and it feels like a victory, because we really did get the most out of it. I'm super happy. And honestly, the way all the drivers handled it, and the crew was just unbelievable. We were always coming out in front of pit stops. This one really is as much about them as it is about us.”

Tom Gamble : “It was a very exciting race! A lot of times throughout the race, I thought, okay, maybe even a top five might be unrealistic now and then next minute, we're in the lead, and it was always changing. Mattia was leading with 30 minutes to go. We didn't quite have the speed in the car to keep the gap at the front, but the team did an excellent job to give us the best opportunity to do that. Mattia, Zach and Casper all drove fantastic as well. I think we did everything we could today, and to come away with third is a great way to start the year.”

Casper Stevenson : “My first Rolex 24 was very up and down. At some points we were going to win it then, other times it looked like we wouldn’t finish inside the top 10. We walked out with a Daytona podium and I couldn’t be more happy about it!” 

Mattia Drudi : “I think we maximized our potential. Maybe at the end, we were not the quickest, but we had a great strategy. All the guys, Zach, Tom, Casper, and the crew, and engineers - everyone did a faultless job. The last two scenes after the restart within the category was quite a wild race. Let's say it was really ‘door to door’. I really had fun since my first time in an IMSA event and my first time with Heart of Racing. I think it was the best way to start the year!” 

Ian James (Heart of Racing Team Principal) : “What a great way to end the 24 Hours At Daytona. It's a special place for the team here, and to get on the podium is an amazing achievement. It’s unfortunate what happened to the No. 007 car during the night, they were in a really good position to have a good result as well. Everybody on the No. 27 crew, and everybody on the No. 007 crew really joined together, and we executed as well as we possibly could. The team did 100% what they needed to do and to be leading with 15 minutes to go. We were daring to believe there for a while but still a podium is a great way to start the year in our IMSA campaign.”