Michael Satterfield
Aston Martin’s Vantage GT3 secured the class victory at Petit Le Mans thanks to partner team The Heart of Racing and drivers Ian James, Ross Gunn, and Roman De Angelis. Since 1998, the 10-Hour race held at Road Atlanta, in Braselton, Georgia, represents the finale of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, North America’s premier endurance series. Over the years it has grown in stature and is now considered one of the most coveted prizes in GT and sportscar racing. For the Seattle-based THoR team, a hard-earned victory in the GTD class that went right to the wire in Saturday’s day-to-night event caps a brilliant season with the British luxury sportscar brand.
Powered by a four-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 engine derived from the road car, THoR’s Vantage also recorded its first IMSA-sanctioned championship title in 2021. Gunn and AMR Driver Academy candidate De Angelis clinched the Sprint Cup GTD title at Long Beach, following race victories at Belle Isle and Lime Rock. But their Road Atlanta win marked the team’s first long-distance race victory, and its most significant, at the highest level with Aston Martin.
The win also marked the first triumph for Aston Martin at Petit Le Mans since Darren Turner and Tomáš Enge led home Pedro Lamy and Stephane Sarrazin in a famous one-two in the GT1 class for Aston Martin Racing with a brace of DBR9s in 2006.
Having started this year’s incident-packed event cautiously, James initially focussed 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 ramped up into the night. Rarely out of the top three, Gunn and De Angelis were persistent front-runners. And following a superb final stint from the Canadian, Gunn was able to pit earlier than his rivals in the climactic run to the flag and soaked up the pressure from the Pfaff Motorsports Porsche in the final laps of the race. The victory ensured that the team and its drivers secured third in the overall GTD standings.
