Heart of Racing’s team principal and driver Ian James hailed their “amazing achievement” of dominating the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Lone Star Le Mans towards LMGT3 victory.
The sixth round of the FIA WEC at the Circuit of the Americas saw the #27 Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 Evo claim their maiden pole position and race victory, along with the fastest racing lap time in the category.
James and his #27 co-drivers Daniel Mancinelli – who became the brand’s first Italian winner – and Alex Riberas claimed Aston Martin’s 10th WEC race victory at COTA, in addition to the brand’s 53rd win in the championship and their 123rd podium finish.
“To win here on American soil in WEC, is just an amazing achievement and a dream come true for the three of us and the team,” said James, the American-British driver.
“We have been knocking on the door with two second place finishes this season, so to come here and get the win is extra special.
“We managed to execute great pit stops, then Alex and Dani drove amazingly.
“To cross the finish line first and to stand on the podium with the American flag is a very proud moment.”
After starting on pole, James, like the majority of the Bronze-graded drivers starting, carried out a double-stint during a gruelling Texas heat with track temperatures hitting 46 degrees Celsius.
Throughout the race, the temperature increased as James’ substantial gap on the #85 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 EVO2 was shortened after losing five seconds in a pit stop.
Despite closing down the gap, the #85 ran into their own problems when Rahel Frey made contact with Rui Andrade’s #81 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R with an ambitious move into Turn 15, as the pink Lamborghini temporarily went in the team’s garage for repairs.
There were only three full-course yellow periods, each of which requires drivers to press a button on their steering wheel to enable a 80 km/h (50 mph) speed limit, as first of these was to retrieve a piece of #81 Corvette bodywork debris from their contact with the #85.
So the lack of major incidents throughout – and therefore safety car periods – enabled the #27 Aston Martin to charge smoothly to the end.
Riberas crossed the checkered flag at the end of the six-hour race with a commanding 20-second lead en route to the team’s first WEC victory.
