In the wake of a first LMGT3 win for the team in the FIA WEC, it’s an ideal moment to reflect on a very busy time for Heart of Racing Team Principal and driver Ian James as he prepares to complete the FIA WEC season in the #27 Aston Martin LMGT3 alongside managing multiple other GT race programmes – all the while keeping oversight of the teams biggest commitment so far, the new-for-2025 Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH programme.
That programme is progressing apace with 6000 km of testing already under the wheels of the test car at Silverstone, Donington Park and Motorland Aragon, with several other circuits and plenty more mileage on the immediate agenda before final homologation and a planned appearance at IMSA’s end-of-year sanctioned test at Daytona.
Beyond that though, with plenty more stories to be told and written in the run-up too the Valkyrie’s competitive debut, there’s are plenty of other existing Heart of Racing programmes to examine, and happily there is good news from Ian about just about all of them!
“Next year, you’ll see a slightly scaled-back GT programme. You know, we’ve got a lot going on, so we’ve got to keep our arms around it,” James told DSC this weekend at Circuit Of The Americas.
“But the concept of Heart of Racing has always been to give people opportunities when they arise. So now we have the female academy programme, we have the GT programme, and then the Valkyrie.
“You’ll probably see a car in IMSA, a car in WEC, and we’ll still continue to do some of the marquee races outside of those races.”
It will be a continuation of the team’s existing single-car WEC effort (backed by Prodrive), and a shift in focus on the IMSA side – where Heart of Racing currently runs Vantage GT3s in GTD Pro and GTD.
James has not yet decided which GTD variant the single-car IMSA effort will race in, opposite the new single-car GTP class entry with the Valkyrie – but expressed his enthusiasm for the introduction of torque sensors to both GTD classes next year.
“We’re very excited about the torque sensors arriving in IMSA. We’ve really enjoyed that process here in WEC, and I think it’s really levelled the playing field a lot. So we’re excited to see how that turns out in IMSA next year.”
“I think (the support) depends on what brand you’re driving, what those brands have available outside of the scope of what’s published. But we’ve seen in recent races in IMSA, it’s kind of crazy what’s been going on. So to give IMSA the tools so they can really regulate and monitor what’s going on – because for sure, they’re trying to do the best they can. It just gives them the right tools to make the right decisions.”
Outside of these two core GT3 programmes, James indicated that Heart of Racing’s partnership with Mercedes-AMG customer team SPS Automotive Performance will continue into 2025. Through this partnership, Heart of Racing by SPS raced at the Bathurst 12 Hour, Dubai 24 Hours, 12 Hours of Mugello, and the Road to Le Mans support races this year.
“We have a great partnership with SPS in Germany, with those cars, and it’s good because we learn things all the time – you drive something different, you want to capitalise on that, you want to emulate it. It’s all learning.
“Originally there wasn’t really any support to do those (additional GT races) in terms of parts and the fundamentals that you need to run those cars. And Mercedes was very gentleman driver-oriented.”
James also expressed a desire to compete in more Intercontinental GT Challenge races as the calendar expands to add the revived Suzuka 1000km alongside Spa, Bathurst, Indianapolis, and the Nürburgring.
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“Next year, races like Suzuka coming up…we’ve never been there. Going to Bathurst was a dream for me. I used to watch Suzuka on TV and all that. I mean, that looks awesome! Key races like that, schedule permitting, maybe we’ll do that.”
Heart of Racing’s continued presence in GT racing will also include a commitment to Pirelli GT4 America and a dedication to the team’s annual female driver search.
This weekend at Barber Motorsports Park, Heart of Racing Team will enter the new-for-2024 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 “Evo” for the first time, driven by Gray Newell and Roman de Angelis.
That car will then race full time with graduates of Heart of Racing Team’s female talent search on board, hoping to succeed the likes of Hannah Grisham, Hannah Greenemeier, and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt who’ve all gained opportunities in GT racing through this initiative.
“We’re big believers in giving people opportunity. I think we’ve done that with the female driver search,” said James. “We’ve got a couple of great girls right now that are really doing exceptionally well.
“And I can see us, for many years to come, trying to nurture that and give the right young woman the opportunity to really excel.
“Our main thing is we don’t want to move them on in the sport unless they’re ready for it, or they’re the right candidate. This is not a marketing stunt. It’s not a PR stunt, it’s not tokenism.
“We want to find the right girl that deserves to be there on merit, on ability, without any social or economic consideration.”
The future plans for Heart of Racing in GT4 also suggests that Newell – the son of team co-founder Gabe Newell – will be taking part in more GT3 races next year.
“There’s no set goal that we’re aiming for with him right now. I’m sure he’ll do some more GT3 racing. He’s done four years of GT4 now, so it’s time to take the next step.
“To be honest, when we raced him at Dubai, or Mugello, or Spa, he’s done exceptionally will in a GT3 car. So we’re excited about that next rung on the ladder.”
He’s just one of a number of candidates that are available to fill vacancies in the line-ups left by drivers being elevated into the Hypercar effort – as well as candidates from tthe AMR Driver Academy.
It does not mean that Heart of Racing Team’s Hypercar drivers won’t be available to race GT3 cars as their schedules permit.
“We’ve seen from other manufacturers, those guys should be racing every weekend. That would be my choice, as much GT racing, as much Hypercar racing – it doesn’t matter. You’ve got to be in a race car. The more you’re in a race car, the better they perform.
“We’re entrenched in the Aston world! They’re good partners, we enjoy our time together – and I can only see that growing in the years to come.”
