Three Top-5 Finishes for the Heart of Racing at VIR
Alton, Va (21 July 2024) - In a weekend full of challenges, the Heart of Racing Team leaves VIRginia International Raceway with a pair of fourth-place finishes in GT America powered by AWS. In Pirelli GT4 America the team ended with a fifth and two sixth-place finishes.
Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier took on new competitors at VIR this weekend while competing in the Silver class of Pirelli GT4 America in their No. 26 Aston Martin Vantage GT4. The pair were able to gather points in the Silver championship standings with a sixth-place finish on Saturday. An unavoidable first-lap incident ended Sunday’s race early for the Hannah duo.
Greenemeier was first up to qualify for the duo on Saturday morning, as the field took the green flag to start the fifteen minute session the skies opened up. The Colorado native set the seventh fastest lap in the Silver class before the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 slid off track. After spinning several times she made contact with the wall causing just enough damage that Grisham could not qualify.
The Heart of Racing Team was able to fix the Aston Martin Vantage in just four short hours before the afternoon race. Greenemeier took the wheel first during the sunny afternoon race, she was able to maintain position to hand off the No. 26 machine to Grisham right at the thirty minute mark. Grisham crossed the finish line in sixth.
“I think it was kind of just an up and down weekend,” said Greenemeier. “We were quite good in practice, but I made a mistake in qualifying that put us on our back foot. I’m so sorry to the team for that, they did a great job fixing the car and I can’t thank them enough. Race one went pretty well. In race two we had an incident that Hannah (Grisham) couldn't avoid. Sometimes, that’s just racing. We head to Road America next and hopefully look for a podium in the Silver class.”
Starting from the rear of the Pirelli GT4 America field, Grisham was off to a great start in Sunday’s race until turn three of the first lap. The California native made contact with a competitor trying to avoid an incident. Grisham was able to drive the first 25 minutes of the one-hour race before pitting for a driver change. Upon pitting, the team discovered the engine was overheating and retired the Aston Martin Vantage before Greenemeier could get behind the wheel.
“Overall, we didn't come away with a trophy, but I think we had a really strong weekend for our first time in the Silver class,” said Grisham. “Today's race was unfortunate, I had a really strong start and then there was an incident in front of me that I just couldn't avoid. I feel bad for the team, they did such a great job putting the car back together. I'm really looking forward to Road America. For me personally, that was a pretty strong track for myself last year. So I'm excited to get to a track that I know and I'm strong at so hopefully we can walk away with a stronger finishing position next time.”
Roman De Angelis and Gray Newell teamed up in the No. 24 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in the PRO-AM category of Pirelli GT4 America. The De Angelis / Newell duo was able to close the gap to second place in the championship points standings with a fifth and sixth place finish.
Newell was dealt the same hand as Greenemeier in the first fifteen minute qualifying session, the Washington-state native was able to set the fifth fastest time in the PRO-AM category after taking an off road excursion himself. De Angelis went out battling similar conditions securing an eighth row overall starting position.
During Saturday’s afternoon race, Newell took the green flag for the duo maintaining position when he passed the Aston Martin Vantage to De Angelis. The Canadian driver was chasing down fourth place, but ran out of time, crossing the finish line in fifth.
On Sunday, De Angelis took the first stint making his way through the field starting from ninth. At about the halfway point of his stint the No. 24 Heart of Racing entry had a cooling system failure. Battling the extreme heat, De Angelis was able to make his way to fifth before passing the Aston Martin to Newell. Most of Newell’s stint was under caution, with just a few green flag laps. Newell crossed the finish line in sixth in the PRO-AM category.
“The Aston Martin Vantage felt really good in terms of balance and drivability all weekend,” said De Angelis. “I thought Saturday we were able to get some good points and finish fifth. Sunday was a bit tougher of a day, we ended up sixth class. The car had good pace and we were able to start on stickers after making a strategy call during qualifying on Saturday. I don't think we could have finished much higher than what we did with our pace. We'll see where we are in the championship and there's still a few more rounds left, so hopefully make some good points gains at the end of the season.”
Newell split his time competing in GT America powered by AWS as well. The 26-year old driver was able to keep his third place position in the GT4 championship points standings after a pair of fourth place finishes.
Saturday morning Newell qualified second for the first race of the weekend. Just before the start of the race a storm came through and a downpour led to half of the race under caution. With fifteen minutes to go, the field saw the green flag for half a lap before going back to caution. Newell restarted from second with nine minutes to go, on the restart he was passed but was able to maintain third until the last corner heading to the checkered. Newell crossed the finish line in fourth.
Starting from fourth for Sunday morning’s race with a dry track, Newell quickly made his way to third in turn three of the first lap. Newell built a gap between himself and the Nissan behind him, until a three lap caution came out at the halfway point. Newell kept his third place position for a few laps, ultimately he crossed the finish line in fourth.
The Heart of Racing SRO program will be back in action in Wisconsin at Road America on August 16-18.
