The Heart of Racing Set for 2023 IMSA Season Finale
Braselton, Ga. (11 October 2023) – Looking to make a strong close to a productive 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, the Heart of Racing team will compete in the ten hour day to night Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta October 11-14.
The No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GTD PRO entry will see David Pittard rejoin Alex Riberas and Ross Gunn for the first time since the Twelve Hours of Sebring in March. The trio currently sits fourth in the Michelin Endurance Cup Championship.
Riberas and Gunn most recently landed on the podium with a second place finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in September, scoring their third podium of the season having taken wins at both Lime Rock Park and Road America.
Though this will be Pittard’s debut at Road Atlanta, Riberas and Gunn are no strangers to the 2.45 mile course. Gunn will make his third start under the Heart of Racing banner during the Petit Le Mans weekend. In 2021, Gunn was teamed up with Roman De Angelis and Ian James to score a win during his Road Atlanta debut. Gunn and Riberas teamed up with Tom Gamble to score a fourth place finish to round out the 2022 season.
Alongside the No. 23 Aston Martin will be its sister car, the No. 27 Heart of Racing GTD entry. The Aston Martin will be piloted by season regulars Roman De Angelis and Marco Sorensen, the duo will be joined by team principal Ian James. The trio currently leads the Michelin Endurance Cup championship point standings by one point.
The No. 27 Heart of Racing team launched the season with a win in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. Since then, De Angelis and Sorensen have scored a second win at Lime Rock Park along with a runner up finish at the Long Beach Grand Prix.
Like Pittard, the Road Atlanta weekend will be Sorensen’s first at the high-commitment Road Atlanta. De Angelis will be making his third start at the Georgia track, after being a part of the winning team in 2021 and then scoring a seventh place finish to conclude the 2022 season. James will make his eighth start at Road Atlanta this weekend. Besides the 2021 win, James has scored five top-ten finishes in the famed ten hour race.
The 26th Annual Motul Petit Le Mans will take the green flag at 1140am ET on Saturday October 14th. Live coverage will begin on the Peacock App at 11:30am ET before switching to the USA Network at 630pm ET for the remainder of the race.
Quoteboard:
Alex Riberas: “Petit Le Mans is always a special race as it marks the end of the season. I’m a big believer that ending a season on a high note is very positive for a team and carries over within the team morale and momentum. It will also be a very tough event for us. We are going to focus on executing in the best way that we can. The competition is going to be fierce, there’s going to be a lot of fast cars and more cars than normal. If we make the right calls, the car is competitive, I’m sure we will bring home a very good result.”
Ross Gunn: “Petit Le Mans is one of the highlights of the year as well as being the last round of the championship and is always enjoyable to go back to. Road Atlanta is one of the most enjoyable tracks from a driver’s perspective. It’s a short lap with five classes there so it will be a busy race. I would predict a lot of caution periods during the race. Usually the Aston Martin has done very well there in the past, we had an amazing win in 2021 and are hoping to repeat that. Everyone at the Heart of Racing has worked tremendously hard this year to get us back up to the top after a tough start to the season. I’m really proud of everything they have achieved in doing that. Hoping to end the year on a high and really set up 2024 on a good note.”
David Pittard: “Finally I’m back stateside and back with Heart of Racing AMR! I’ve had a successful season back in Europe while the regular IMSA season has been taking place. I have been following HORS successes in GTD PRO and GTD, waiting to be back for Petit Le Mans. I’ve heard great things about Road Atlanta and I’m looking forward to my first laps around there. I know the Ason can finish strong in the race and HOR ‘have had some very strong performances in the past. So I hope we can work well as a team and finish 2023 with a top result!”
Roman De Angelis: “I’m definitely really looking forward to this year’s Petit Le Mans! It’s always a race that I prefer on the IMSA calendar and it has such a different style of racing that comes with it. The traffic management for all classes is so critical here and ensuring you stay out of trouble which due to the nature of the race and the track layout is not as easy as it sounds. As it’s the last race of the year I really hope we can finish on a high and hopefully come home as the endurance champions.”
Marco Sorensen: “Roman and I have had our share of good and bad this season. We are hoping to end the season with a good result. I think the Aston has the speed and the team has done well at Road Atlanta in the past. We’ll see how the weekend goes. We still have a chance to win the Endurance Cup so we will do everything we can to bring home the title.”
