The Heart of Racing will enter a single Aston Martin in IMSA’s new-for-2022 GTD Pro class as part of an expansion to a two-car entry for the entire season.
The Seattle-based outfit will enter the #23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for Aston Martin factory driver Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas in the new category. Maxime Martin, winner of the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans, will join the duo for the Endurance Cup rounds.
After Daytona and Sebring, Martin will move across to the team’s #27 Aston Martin in the GTD category, where he will partner with Roman de Angelis for the WeatherTech Sprint Cup rounds.
For the Florida season opener, however, De Angelis will be joined by team principal Ian James, Tom Gamble and three-time Le Mans class winner Darren Turner.
The Heart of Racing is the defending WeatherTech Sprint Cup champion, with Gunn and De Angelis winning the title earlier this year. The squad also won the season finale at Motul Petit Le Mans.
“After the momentum and lessons we learnt in 2021 we are ready to expand the adventure, the obvious next step for our program was to expand into the new IMSA GTD Pro class,” said James.
“We are excited to push our limits as a team and continue to challenge ourselves against the best teams and drivers.”
Aston Martin becomes the latest GT3 manufacturer to become involved with the new GTD Pro category. It will join the likes of Lexus, BMW, Porsche, Lamborghini and Corvette.
