The Heart of Racing Team announced that its two Aston Martin Vantage GT3s will be entered in GTD Pro for this weekend’s Battle on the Bricks six-hour enduro at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Championship contender Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas will continue to drive the #23 Aston Martin which currently sits second in the GTD Pro Teams’ Championship, while the #27 car will move up from GTD, pairing its full-season driver Roman de Angelis with Mario Farnbacher.
It’ll be De Angelis’ first start in the GTD Pro class. The young Canadian, a previous class winner at the Daytona 24 Hours and Petit Le Mans, said of the move: “I’m looking forward to another IMSA endurance race, especially with this one being the first endurance race at Indy.
“It’s exciting to be joining the GTD Pro field and driving with Mario! My mindset really doesn’t change much as we always have GTD and GTD Pro cars mixed in and battling. I’m looking forward to the experience and new challenge!”
De Angelis recently gave the new Vantage GT4 its first win in the SRO GT4 America series at Barber Motorsports Park.
This will be Farnbacher’s fifth start of the season with Heart of Racing; in four previous starts aboard the #23 Vantage GT3, the two-time IMSA GTD Champion has three top-five finishes.
“I’m really looking forward to teaming up with Roman this weekend,” added Farnbacher. “This weekend I will be working with the No. 27 team instead of the No. 23 team like I have been with. I’m looking forward to the challenge with Roman, it will be cool to team up with him; he’s a really good, fast, young guy.
“It’s fantastic to get a chance to get selected from the drivers to be there and a big thank you to the team. We also get to be at the famous Brickyard. I’m really looking forward to the challenge of the endurance race there.”
The additional GTD Pro entry will also help support the #23 team’s bid for the season championship. Gunn sits 17 points behind AO Racing’s Laurin Heinrich at the top of the drivers’ table, the same margin separating the #23 Aston Martin from the #77 AO Racing Porsche in the teams’ standings.
Feature image © Jack Webster / Dailysportscar.com
