The Heart of Racing Set for 62nd Rolex 24 At Daytona
Daytona, Fla. (21 January 2024) - The Heart of Racing Team (HOR) goes into the Rolex 24 At Daytona looking to move forward to score a strong result in the 24 hour race next weekend at Daytona International Speedway. The No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage piloted by Ross Gunn will start 11th in class for Saturday January 27th’s race (NBC at 1:40 pm ET), while the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage will start from 22nd in class.
The Roar Before the 24 weekend consisted of five test sessions through a wide range of different conditions during the unseasonably cold weekend to help prepare for the 24 hour race next weekend. The weekend closed with a 15 minute qualifying session on Sunday afternoon with cool windy conditions.
The No. 23 Heart of Racing GTD PRO entry with a driver lineup of Gunn, Alex Riberas, and Mario Farnbacher have 22 combined starts at the Rolex 24 At Daytona event and are prepared to make the most out of the enduro race. During the fourth test session of the weekend, Farnbacher found the top of the leaderboard with a 1:46.066 second lap.
Gunn will start the race for the No. 23 Heart of Racing squad from 11th after completing five laps in the Aston Martin Vantage. The 15 minute qualifying session was cut short due to a car going off and causing a lengthy red flag. As the clock counted down to 1:20 seconds left on the qualifying clock, IMSA added an additional 10 minutes to give the GT field a chance to get multiple laps under green flag conditions. Gunn ultimately crossed the finish line with a fast lap of 1:45.528 seconds.
The Heart of Racing team’s No. 27 GTD entry will feature Roman De Angelis, Zach Robichon, Marco Sorensen, and Ian James behind the wheel. Last year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona GTD winning team looks to repeat history with the addition of Robichon to the lineup. The No. 27 team focused on perfecting pit stops and gaining as many laps as possible in preparation for next weekend's twice around the clock classic.
De Angelis qualified the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage machine for the team, but was unfortunately only able to complete two timed laps after a technical issue forced a return to the pits. Before he would have a chance to return the checkered flag flew, the Canadian will look to move up from the 18th row on the grid next weekend.
The 62nd edition of the Rolex 24 At Daytona will take the green flag at 1:40 pm ET on Saturday January 27th with live coverage starting on NBC before switching to the USA Network at 2:30 pm ET. The full 24 hour broadcast will be streamed on the Peacock app.
Quoteboard:
Ian James: “Our focus for the weekend is to knock the rust off from the off season and that is exactly what we did. We focused on the mechanics of our pit stops including driver changes and tried different setups for the Aston Martin Vantage. We didn’t qualify where we would have liked, but it’s a 24 hour race next weekend and a lot can happen during that time.”
Ross Gunn: “It's been a productive weekend at the Roar. Everyone in the Heart of Racing team has gelled really well. We are collectively starting to really understand this Aston Martin Vantage that we have this year. Honestly it's great to be back racing. It's always amazing to start the year of a big race at Daytona. I'm really looking forward to next weekend!”
Alex Riberas: “The Rolex always starts very early with the Roar, where we actually got a lot of work done. We get to do everything we plan to do, we follow the program, and we stick to it. It's very hard to know where we are in terms of the competition. But clearly now we had a bit of an issue in qualifying so it's still difficult to see where we're going to be next week. However, I feel confident in the team and I think we can look forward to the Rolex 24 with good expectations.”
Mario Farnbacher: “We tried to get in a flow, obviously. The Aston Martin Vantage is a new car for me and I have new teammates. So for me it's a lot of things to learn. Driver changes are a good example. There's a different procedure than the car I used to drive. Then working with, with the team of the engineers, getting to know the people and obviously also my teammates. So, different procedures, lots to learn, but work in progress.”
Zach Robichon: “The overall goal of the Roar is to just get comfortable. And I think, this year more than any for me coming with a new platform with the Heart of Racing. There are lots of differences for me and lots of changes. So I think we basically achieved that. The goal was to understand how the car is going to react to changes and that's what we did, we ran through our plan. Our goal was to learn about the car and that's exactly what we did myself about how the car behaves, and then for the team on how the car reacts to changes. Obviously this race has so many variables, so many things that can happen. So we learned as much as we could and that's all we can ask for.”
Roman De Angelis: “At the end of the day, the Roar’s kind of a week to prepare and make sure that come Saturday afternoon of the Rolex that we have a car that's competitive and can race up front. So just been working on a lot of that throughout the week and making sure that at that point in the race, we're ready to go. We also have some new members on the team and a new but similar driver lineup, so lots of trial and errors and seeing how we can be strong next Saturday.”
Marco Sorensen: “Our qualifying time was a little disappointing. It’s never ideal to be starting from the rear of the field, but it’s a long race and I have no doubts that we will make up quite a few of those pretty quickly. The Roar weekend was mainly focused on getting used to the car and I think ultimately we are happy where we were during the test sessions.”
