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The Heart of Racing Team left Sebring International Raceway with two top five finishes following the 72nd running of the Twelve Hours of Sebring. The No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin GTD PRO entry scored a fifth place result and the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin GTD entry landed a fourth place finish.
The stacked lineup of the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 GTD PRO entry included Ross Gunn, Alex Riberas, and Mario Farnbacher. During Friday’s sunny and hot afternoon qualifying session, Farnbacher qualified the No. 23 Heart of Racing entry second in class.
Farnbacher was first behind the wheel for Saturday’s 9:40am start, completing the first two stints while maintaining a top three position before handing the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 to Riberas. Gunn was next in the driver’s seat as the team raced in podium position at the halfway mark.
The second half of the twelve hour enduro saw seven caution periods and the Farnbacher, Riberas, Gunn trio each took another turn in the Aston Martin Vantage GT3. The trio was able to stay in the top five for a majority of the second half until a late race drive through penalty forced the team to the back of the GTD PRO field. Undeterred, Gunn was able to push forward in the last hour of the enduro, to cross the finish line in fifth.
The No. 27 Heart of Racing GTD entry featured Ian James, Roman De Angelis, and Zacharie Robichon.
 James started from the ninth row after qualifying for the team on Friday afternoon. James completed his three stints in the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the first four hours of the twelve hour enduro, setting the stage for De Angelis and Robichon to finish the remainder of the race. De Angelis was in the fourth place position as the halfway mark ticked away.
Taking turns each stint, De Angelis and Robichon battled through the remaining caution filled six hours that featured a typically warm afternoon. The duo was able to maintain their fourth place position as De Angelis took the checkered flag in fourth.
The Heart of Racing IMSA program will be back in action on the streets of Long Beach, April 19-21st. Gray Newell will also be competing during the Long Beach weekend in SRO America’s GT America powered by AWS. April 19-21st will also mark the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship at Imola in Italy.
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Alex Riberas : “Well, a very, very long 12 hours for us. We overcame a lot of adversity as a team. It makes me very proud of what we are building together with The Heart of Racing and Aston Martin Racing. We came out of Sebring the last two years where two races in a row we had several gremlins and we couldn’t really finish the race. So this year, starting with both Daytona and Sebring and both in the top five is very encouraging. I’m sure we can continue to develop for the rest of the year and build up into a title contender team.”
Ross Gunn : “Sebring was a tough day at the office for everyone but I’m super proud of everyone that pulled together to get a P5. I don’t think we had a P5 pace car today, unfortunately but it gave us more time and more mileage on the car for everybody to learn. You know, this is only the second race for the car. To be fighting some of the best teams, drivers and cars in the world. Its early stages are very encouraging. We’ve got a few things to analyze and few things to work on. But overall, good points again. Compared to last year, we are way more ahead points wise from Daytona and Sebring than last year. I think that’s a positive that we can take through to Laguna.”
Mario Farnbacher : “To start, my first stint was not too bad. I think with the used set of tires, so that was actually very positive. The second stint with the new tires I struggled quite a bit more with a bit more understeer, and I didn’t really get better throughout my stints in the afternoon, so I need to look into what caused the big understeer and lack of mechanical grip compared to some other competitors. I think P5 is a good result. I think we gave everything we had and can be happy with the points we collected.”
Roman De Angelis : “I mean finishing Sebring in fourth is kind of bittersweet. It’s nice to get some points on the board after Daytona but then there is ‘what could have been.’ Just lacked a little bit of pace all day today but I think we were one of the cars that just kept our nose clean and defended. The Heart of Racing did a great job, we had a good result for both cars. Ready to come back stronger. Now we start sprint racing and I’m looking forward to that.”
Zacharie Robichon : “It was a difficult race, super hot. Honestly, the team did a fantastic job, we ended P4 with a shot at the podium at the end. Ultimately we can be proud of what we achieved. Sometimes you don’t win but you feel like you did the most you could and I think we really achieved that today. Roman did a fantastic job at the end, he drove a lot today. He weathered the heat very well and he did a good job positioning us in a good spot at the beginning of the race. So honestly, I’m happy. Considering where we finished you always want more, but I am happy with what the team did and you can always be proud.”
Ian James : “Fourth and fifth of the end, can’t be too disappointed with that. We really had fourth and fifth place cars today. Pit crew did great, drivers did great. We had a few penalties in the pits that didn’t really cost us anything there at the end because the yellow green restarts. They were a bit nail biting! So, good points for both cars, we’ll work on the car, work on the performance parameters of it and come back stronger next race at Long Beach.”
About The Heart of Racing
The Heart of Racing Team races to raise funds and awareness for Seattle Children’s Cardiology Research. The team competes internationally with concurrent campaigns in IMSA, SRO, WEC and the 24H SERIES. The Heart of Racing won the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car GTD Championship title in the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3. In 2023, the team followed that up with a strong run to second in the IMSA championship on the strength of four wins and three additional podiums. The team also made its debut outing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023, scoring sixth in the GTE-AM class. The Heart of Racing Team hosted their first all-female driver shootout in November of 2022, bringing to the team Hannah Grisham and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt for the 2023 SRO GT4 America season. The duo combined for a breakthrough double-victory weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to close out their rookie season. To contribute to The Heart of Racing’s fundraising efforts please visit: https://give.seattlechildrens.org/fundraiser/3642390
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