No small victory for Aston Martin team in Petit Le Mans

MANILA: The Aston Martin Vantage GT3 earned a class victory in the Petit Le Mans endurance race with the help of partner team The Heart of Racing (THoR) and drivers Ian James, Ross Gunn, and Roman De Angelis.

The 10-hour race, which was introduced in 1998, is the culmination of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, North America’s top endurance championship. The race is being held at Road Atlanta in Georgia, USA. It has risen in significance over the years and is currently regarded as one of the most coveted titles in GT and sportscar racing.

THoR’s Vantage is powered by a four-liter, twin turbocharged V8 engine. It won its first IMSA-sanctioned championship in 2021. Gunn and AMR Driver Academy candidate De Angelis won the Sprint Cup title at Long Beach, California, following victories at Belle Isle, Florida and Lime Rock, Connecticut. However, their triumph at Road Atlanta was the team’s first long-distance race victory, as well as its most significant, at the top level with Aston Martin.

The victory was also Aston Martin’s first win at Petit Le Mans since British racer Darren Turner and Czech racer Toma Enge led home Portuguese racer Pedro Lamy and French racer Stephanie Sarrazin in a legendary one-two in the GT1 class for Aston Martin Racing in 2006 with a set of DBR9s.

After a cautious start to this year’s event, James concentrated on staying on the lead lap and running long stints to maximize track position before handing over to Gunn and De Angelis, who went on the attack as the race progressed into the night. Gunn and De Angelis were perennial front-runners, rarely dropping out of the top three. Thanks to a strong final stint from De Angelis, Gunn was able to pit earlier than his competitors in the final laps of the race, soaking up the pressure from the Pfaff Motorsports Porsche. The victory put the team and its drivers in third place in overall GTD standings.

“This win means so much to everyone at The Heart of Racing and Aston Martin Racing,” Gunn stated. “We’ve put a lot of time and energy into working with THoR, and the car and the team have been brilliant all season-long. For me personally, it’s a career highlight to win my first major ‘blue riband’ race in the US, and for us as a team it proves what we are capable of, with the right equipment.”

In parallel, James said, “This is an awesome result and it’s a testament to all the hard-working and talented individuals we have in this team. The Aston Martin Vantage has proved to be a competitive machine all season, and today Roman and Ross were simply brilliant; they weren’t going to let anyone beat us, we were just on fire all day!”

“The second half of this season has proved emphatically just how much of a force the Aston Martin Vantage is in international GT racing at present, Aston Martin Racing Managing Director John Gaw stated. “To win at Petit Le Mans, Aston Martin’s first win here in 15 years, is an outstanding achievement and an example of why the car is such a fierce competitor in the hands of our capable partners. Coming off the back of championship wins in Japan’s Super Taikyu series, British GTs and IMSA, as well as race victories in the Nürburgring Langstrecken Series and the FIA World Endurance Championship, and not forgetting the overall podium finish in the Spa 24 Hours, Vantage is now the equal of any machine at all levels of GT competition.”

Photos from Aston Martin

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