Aston Martin is the other brand to return home with a fantastic double obtained at the 24h of Daytona, the first event of the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship season.
In addition to Acura, which finished 1-2 in the GTP Class, among the GT3 cars to cross the finish line first at the end of another edition to be lived until the end with bated breath was the Vantage #27 entered by the team The Heart of Racing in GTD Class.
Roman De Angelis, Ian James, Darren Turner and Marco Sørensen were in contention for the win for a long time, which materialized in the frenetic final stages, when the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes finished KO due to a contact in traffic on the penultimate restart by a safety car.
Here AMR #27 took the lead and then passed under the checkered flag first; something that hadn’t happened to the British brand since 1964 in Florida, also topped off by the second place achieved by the comeback Vantage #44 of Magnus Racing driven by John Potter, Andy Lally, Spencer Pumpelly and Nicki Thiim, completing the one-two finish.
The icing on the cake, as the men from Aston Martin described it, was also the conclusion ahead of the Mercedes of WeatherTech Racing-Proton which won the GTD PRO Class, the most important one on paper for GT3, but it still goes said that for the entire duration of the race the Vantages showed a competitive pace that was exploited to the fullest by GTD teams and drivers.
#27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3: Roman De Angelis, Marco Sorensen, Ian James, Darren Turner
“Being the winner among all GTD and GTD PRO cars is a very special feeling. Of course we aimed for success in our Class, but when you are ahead even in terms of the overall standings it is really surreal,” said Sørensen, who is touched the last shift of driving finding himself fighting in traffic playing everything.
“Every time I saw the yellow flags displayed towards the end I got angry like never before. The last four hours we haven’t done anything wrong, Roman and I. It was a great battle and I’m happy to have brought it home. It’s really a testament to how hard the team worked during the race. We were perfect for each of the 24 hours, it was a very demanding race for us, but we held on and it paid off.”
“It’s the first win for Aston in almost 60 years here at Daytona, I really don’t know what to say. I’m really proud of all the guys at Heart of Racing – I couldn’t have done it without their amazing work. We couldn’t have done more. It’s exciting, really special.”
#27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3: Roman De Angelis, Marco Sorensen, Ian James, Darren Turner
Photo by: Richard Dole / Motorsport Images
De Angelis adds: “I’m really happy to have won with the whole Heart of Racing family; it’s fantastic, they made the pit stops perfectly. The 24h of Daytona is the race I’ve always wanted to win since I was a kid, so It’s a very unreal feeling.”
“I first raced Daytona with Ian five years ago, so winning it with him makes it even more special. Every year we always do something extra, the next round is at Sebring and we’ll see what we can do there.”
Turner was also happy: “It’s absolutely amazing to win here at Daytona! The team’s performance was absolutely amazing and honestly the Aston Martins were the fastest on the track. I’ve come here several times but this is the most fun race I’ve ever had.” done. Marco underwent the final pressure, but held on”.
#60 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06: Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, Helio Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud, #79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG GT3: Cooper MacNeil, Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon, Maro Engel, #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3: Roman De Angelis, Marco Sorensen, Ian James, Darren Turner
Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images
Team principal and driver James is beaming: “The joy of winning here is so much, something you can’t forget. It’s an honor to bring Aston Martin’s first win here at Daytona. The Heart of Racing crew did a great job fantastic. I’m really proud of all the team members. It was a real pleasure sharing the car this weekend with Darren, Roman and Marco. The last hour of the race was really eventful, but now we can enjoy it. It was fantastic look at the way Marco handled the pressure, he did it perfectly.”
“Words cannot do justice to how proud I am of this team and what they have achieved this weekend. Winning Daytona is a glory for anyone involved in IMSA and it means to all of us that we have finally succeeded. And then we are Reigning IMSA GTD Champions, this demonstrates the strength and talent of the team we have built.”
“I think it’s the icing on the cake. The fact that I’m part of the line-up, pitting myself against all the pro riders and still manage to win, is just a testament to what these guys have done, how committed they are “How well they drove and how good the team is. I looked up to, and still do, the likes of Corvette Racing and everything else, and to play against them and beat them is a huge achievement.”
#27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3: Roman De Angelis, Marco Sorensen, Ian James, Darren Turner
Huw Tasker, Head of AMR, said: “This is an incredibly significant day in the history of Aston Martin Racing. The 24h of Daytona is a race we’ve wanted to win for a long time with the Vantage and, for good reason, it turned out to be a “A tall order. For Aston Martin to triumph in their class at North America’s premier endurance race is a statement of our intentions in this market and is the perfect way to begin Heart of Racing’s defense of the IMSA GTD Crown.”
“Congratulations also go to Magnus Racing, who put in a superb performance and could easily have won, and to our new partners TGM, who together with TF Sport have done a great job to reach the finish line of such a challenging event.”
