- The Heart of Racing takes IMSA GTD championship lead with another win
- AMR works driver Ross Gunn shines as Vantage proves peerless in USA
- Aston Martin Vantage GTE claims pole and double-podium at FIA WEC 6 Hours of Monza with TF Sport and D’station Racing
Sunday, 18 July, 2021: Aston Martin Vantage GT3 team, The Heart of Racing and drivers Ross Gunn (GBR) and Roman De Angelis (CDN) surged to the top of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship points table after a second win from three races at the challenging Lime Rock circuit in Connecticut, USA, last weekend.
Works driver Gunn, and AMR Young Driver Academy candidate de Angelis, demonstrated the speed, durability and handling of the GT3-specification 4-litre V8 turbocharged Vantage with an emphatic win while resisting an undercut attempt from their main GTD class rivals during the pit-stops. De Angelis led throughout his stint from a career first pole, and having lost the lead briefly during the stops Gunn was once again in front when lightning strikes caused the race to be stopped after 90 minutes of the scheduled 160.
“This is a big deal for us,” said Gunn. “We’ve slowly chipped away throughout the year – and now it’s going really well. The strength of the team is in its execution and we’re really picking up some momentum now. This is a fantastic championship and The Heart of Racing is an excellent team.”
While Gunn and De Angelis were firmly placing The Heart of Racing squad into title contention in the USA, a trio of Aston Martin Vantage cars were in action at the legendary Monza circuit in Italy for the third round of the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship.
The weekend saw dramatic action throughout the GTE Am category with three Aston Martin Vantages entered by NorthWest AMR, D’station Racing and TF Sport – which took an impressive pole position on Saturday evening, as Ben Keating (USA) showcased the pace and dynamic handling of the Vantage over the infamous Monza kerbs. It was the American’s second pole in the three outings with the car.
The race saw some remarkable action as all three Aston Martin GTE Am class cars drove strong races in extremely hot conditions. The NorthWest AMR entry claimed a fighting second position with Paul Dalla Lana (CDN), Marcos Gomes (BRA) and Augusto Farfus (BRA) combining in the Vantage to complete a last lap move for the position.
Farfus raced hard against the D’station car driven by Tomonobu Fujii (JPN) and engaged in some spectacular racing that proved to be the battle of the race in the final stages of a six-hour endurance test. The decisive moment came on the final lap, when Farfus made his move ensuring that two Aston Martin customer teams enjoyed the podium celebrations.
D’Station’s third place was its best result of its WEC campaign so far, with both Andrew Watson (GBR) and Satoshi Hoshino (JPN) also evidencing the pace of the Japanese entered Vantage.
David King, President of Aston Martin Racing, said of the weekends action on both sides of the Atlantic: “This has been another outstanding weekend of racing achievement for Vantage, which proves capable of taking on the competition in all standards on both sides of the Atlantic. I’m particularly pleased that The Heart of Racing is seeing the results of such hard work in their constantly evolving programme. It was a shame that TF Sport suffered an early puncture at Monza, but it was fantastic to see NorthWest AMR and D’station Racing make it on to the podium.”
The next round of the 2021 WEC is the 24 Hours of Le Mans which will take place over the weekend of 21/22 August
