The Heart of Racing set for WEC season opener at Qatar

Doha, Qatar (26 February, 2025) - The Heart of Racing will be starting the FIA World Endurance Championship as a three car team for the first time during the Qatar 1812km season opener. The ten-hour race will air on Max in the United States starting at 2:00pm local / 6:00am ET on Friday, February 28.

The team will have an expanded presence in the international endurance championship, as the Aston Martin THOR Team to compete in the WEC Hypercar class with two Aston Martin Valkyries. The No. 007 Heart of Racing Valkyrie will have team newcomer Harry Tincknell driving alongside Tom Gamble and Ross Gunn. Long time Heart of Racing teammates Alex Riberas, Marco Sørensen, and Roman De Angelis will pilot the No. 009 Aston Martin Valkyrie.

The Heart of Racing Team will continue with its WEC LMGT3 entry of the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage, which this year will be piloted by Ian James, Zacharie Robichon, and Mattia Drudi. During the Qatar Prologue weekend (February 21 -22) the Heart of Racing Team continued to build on their progress from the previous two seasons, making the most of the season-opening test to set the third fastest time through the four combined sessions. James, Robichon, and Drudi drove a total of 262 laps during the two day test. 

While James and Robichon have had plenty of seat time in WEC, Qatar marks the WEC debut for Drudi.

“It feels mega to be in the World Endurance Championship,” said Drudi. “I think we did a decent job during the Prologue, we ran many laps. Everything has been going as planned and now we are just waiting for the race. The LMGT3 rules are a little bit different than what I was using in other championships, so there is kind of a different approach when you’re driving the car but in the end it’s the same Vantage DNA and is always nice to drive.” 

Thursday will host qualifying and Hyperpole before Friday’s race. All twelve hours of racing action will be live on the Max app starting at 6:00am ET with additional updates through the Heart of Racing and Aston Martin Racing social media channels. 

For more information about the Aston Martin Valkyrie please see here.