Win for the Heart of Racing Team in Canada
The No. 23 Heart of Racing GTD PRO entry moves to second in championship point standings
Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada (14 July 2024) - The Heart of Racing Team’s No. 27 GTD entry broke a streak of bad racing luck on Sunday as Roman De Angelis and Spencer Pumpelly combined for a victorious run onboard the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage at De Angelis’ home track of Canadian Tire Motorsports Park on Sunday. The Heart of Racing Team’s No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GTD PRO entry finished fifth, moving the team to second in the provisional championship points standings.
The Heart of Racing No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 had a high finish of fourth place at Sebring International Raceway going into the Canadian race weekend. The team worked to solve an electrical issue throughout both practice sessions ahead of qualifying, as Pumpelly qualified with a second place grid spot.
Pumpelly started the two hour and 40 minute race and moved into the lead on lap three. The American driver continued to grow the lead in the following 15 laps before making his way down pit lane just before the first caution came out. Upon restart, the Aston Martin Vantage was passed by a BMW but Pumpelly didn’t back down. After 18 laps of pursuit, Pumpelly was able to fight back to the lead
“Fantastic day today! Huge effort from everyone at the Heart of Racing,” said Pumpelly. “The team put together a really good car. We had some challenges mechanically earlier in the week. The guys did awesome; under the tent, over the wall, on the pit stand and then of course, engineering. The car was really good and I had a fun first stint. I was able to battle for the lead a couple times. When I gave it to Roman, I knew at that point it'd be a done deal. Really proud of the effort, and I appreciate the Heart of Racing letting me be a part of it.”
De Angelis took over the No. 27 machine on lap 70 where he continued to grow the lead that Pumpelly had built . The Canadian native led the GTD field to the checkered flag to take the team’s first GTD win of the season.
“It's great to get a win here with Spencer, the No. 27 car and the whole crew,” said De Angelis. “They deserved it, it's been a tough year for us so far. Since Lime Rock last year we haven't had a win or a podium. The crew has been there, the car has been there and always had a good lineup, but just haven't had any luck. I'm just super happy to finally get to win and to do it at home in front of my family and friends is great. I'm looking forward to the rest of the year. Hopefully we can keep the momentum going. We're not in the championship fight, but it'd be nice to have more days like this.”
The No. 23 Heart of Racing GTD PRO entry scored a fifth place finish after qualifying sixth during Saturday’s late afternoon qualifier. Ross Gunn was joined by Mario Farnbacher in place of Alex Riberas who was competing in the team’s FIA World Endurance Championship entry.
"It was great to be back with the Heart of Racing and driving the Aston Martin again,” said Farnbacher. “The other column was faster at the start but there was nothing I could do. There was a yellow soon after the start and it was the best strategy to do the driver change then so unfortunately that was the end of my stint! But it was still a good day for Ross in the championship and of course a huge congratulations to the No. 27 guys, they have had such bad luck this year. It is great to see them get the win, they really deserved it today."
Farnbacher started the race in the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage completing the first 20 laps before passing the wheel to Gunn during the field’s first caution. The No. 23 Heart of Racing Team was able to gain a spot on pit road after the second pit stop of the race moving the Aston Martin Vantage to fifth. The team optimized fuel strategy to cross the finish line in fifth. The fifth place finish earned the team enough championship points to move up to second place.
“First, I’d like to give a massive congratulations to the No. 27 team,” said Gunn. “They've had a really rough year and have never given up. I’m super proud of Roman for getting a win at his home race and also for Spencer's first win with Heart of Racing. For us, it wasn't a straight forward day, we found ourselves on the backfoot and we had to be pretty strategic and make some pretty bold fuel numbers and then it in the end paid off. We managed to gain some positions from pitting early on and we managed to finish P5 which is good points, all things considered. The car is improving race by race and the team did some amazing pit stops. So there's definitely some really good positives to take forward to Road America.”
The Heart of Racing’s IMSA program will be back in action August 2-4 at Road America, where the team looks to repeat their 2023 win in GTD PRO with Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas.
