The Heart of Racing Starts Second in Twelve Hours of Sebring

The No. 27 Heart of Racing GTD entry will roll off from 17th 

Sebring, Fla. (15 March 2024) - The Heart of Racing earned their best Sebring qualifying position for the Twelve Hours of Sebring during Friday’s 15 minute qualifying session. The team's previous best qualifying position at Sebring International Raceway was fourth in 2022 and 2023. 

Thursday saw three practice sessions at the famed Florida track where both Heart of Racing entries were able to work on dialing in a setup for the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 before qualifying on Friday afternoon. 

Mario Farnbacher took on the qualifying duties for co-drivers Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas completing a 1:59.264 - second lap, briefly holding the top spot before it was bested with five minutes remaining on the 15 minute qualifying clock. 

“Qualifying was good,” said Farnbacher, 2015 and 2017 Twelve Hours of Sebring winner. “I was struggling a little bit to find my open space in a run out there. I think my second lap would have been a hair quicker, like a tenth or two, but unfortunately I was blocked. I think the result was good and we can hopefully stay out of trouble in the opening few corners so that is positive for us. I think it will be important to position our Aston Martin Vantage in a good spot at the beginning of the race with low risk and maintain that position, so we’ll see where tomorrow takes us.”  

Behind the wheel of the No. 27 Heart of Racing GTD entry was Ian James, completing a 2:01.555-second lap to score a ninth row starting position. Roman De Angelis and Zacharie Robichon will join James in the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for Saturday’s 12 hour enduro. 

The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring will take the green flag at 9:40 AM ET on Saturday March 2nd. Watch flag to flag coverage on the Peacock App and USA Network from 4:30 PM ET to 10:00 PM ET.