The official confirmation of the return of Heart of Racing to IMSA competition has come this morning. The story, broken last month by Marshall Pruett on Racer.com confirmed that the team, headed by former Heart of Racing driver Ian James together with Seattle based businessmen Gabe Newell and Yahn Bernier, will campaign the new-generation Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in a single car effort for the full IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship season in GTD.
Full season drivers will be announced before the Roar Before The Rolex 24 test at Daytona from 3-5 January where the team will make their first public appearance.
“There are so many things to be excited about for 2020,” said James. “To set up a new team and align ourselves with the Aston Martin brand in North America is an amazing opportunity.
“The car has been competitive all around the world in 2019, and we are delighted to partner with Aston Martin Racing and bring it to North America.
“The Heart of Racing and Aston Martin have both had a three-year break from the IMSA Championship, so we’ve got a lot of making up to do, but are under no illusion on how tough the IMSA series is with all the great teams and drivers we have to compete against.”
The Heart of Racing will continue its successful fund-raising collaboration with Team Seattle, the ‘Racing for Children’ Guild which accepts donations for Seattle Children’s Hospital.
Founded and run by Don and Donna Kitch since 1997, the Guild, dedicated to raising money for pediatric cardiac care, has to date raised over $6 million for the Seattle Children’s Heart Center.
The new team will feature a host of familiar faces in the IMSA paddock supplemented with Aston Martin Racing personnel.
Heart of racing were last seen in IMSA competition with A Porsche GTD entry from 2014-16 managed by Alex Job Racing.
“The Heart of Racing program has always been an inspiring environment to be in for everyone involved,” said James. “This is in addition to the very compelling fund-raising element. Gabe and Yahn’s support and vision are incredible and I’m delighted they decided to bring the program back to the IMSA paddock full-time. We have a close-knit crew, awesome full-time drivers to announce, and a great manufacturer partner. All the ingredients are in place.”
David King, President of Aston Martin Racing: “The United States obviously represents a huge market for Aston Martin Racing and as such it is fantastic to see Heart of Racing return to IMSA with one of our Vantage GT3s. The success of the new Vantage in its first year of customer racing means that we will see more exciting programmes extend our reach further around the world next year, and we very much expect Heart of Racing to be a key pillar in our overall US motorsport strategy in 2020.”
