With potential titles on the line, the Heart of Racing team has gone with two GTD PRO entries for the upcoming six-hour IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Indianapolis this weekend. Normally campaigning an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo in both GTD PRO and GTD, the team is putting Roman De Angelis and Mario Farnbacher in GTD PRO in the No. 27, adding to the No. 23 of Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas.
Gunn, with four podium finishes including a win at the Six Hours at the Glen in June, goes into Indy only 17 points out of the championship lead (Riberas has missed several races due to conflicts with the FIA World Endurance Championship). Heart of Racing, and Aston Martin, have the same margin for the teams’ and manufacturers’ championships. Laurin Heinrich, AO Racing and Porsche currently lead those standings.
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In last year’s 2h40m race at Indianapolis, Gunn and Riberas finished second. With De Angelis having no shot at replicating his 2022 GTD title, the team is looking to build on last year’s strong finish at Indy by doubling its efforts in GTD PRO.
“This point in the season is getting really exciting,” said Gunn. “We have just two races to go and our full focus is on the races ahead. Last year we had a strong run at Indianapolis and this year the goal is to replicate that same success. The Heart of Racing Team has done an awesome job this season to bring consistent results in the championship and I’m very proud of the efforts they have put in up to this point. Everyone is incredibly motivated going into these next two races and from my perspective, I have been preparing as hard as ever and I’m really excited to get back out on track.”
De Angelis will be making his first start in the GTD PRO class, the Canadian was moved from Silver to Gold driver ranking after the 2023 season, making him eligible for the class move. Last year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, De Angelis placed fourth after leading the GTD field for 28 laps.
“I’m looking forward to another IMSA endurance race, especially with this one being the first endurance race at Indy,” said De Angelis. “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!”
Joining De Angelis for the first time this season is Farnbacher, who has been the endurance and fill-in driver for Riberas in the No. 23 Heart of Racing entry for four races so far this season. Farnbacher is no stranger to the Brickyard, having competed at the 2.439-mile circuit in 2014 with team principal Ian James, securing a sixth-place finish. Since then, the German driver has finished second (2022) and fourth (2023) there in SRO’s GT World Challenge America eight-hour endurance race.
“I’m really looking forward to teaming up with Roman,” said Farnbacher, the 2020 GTD champion. “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.”
In addition to the double GTD PRO entry, the Heart of Racing’s 2022 female driver shootout winner Hannah Grisham will make her first IMSA Lamborghini Super Trofeo start with Forty7 Motorsports at Indy. Grisham currently drives the No. 26 Heart of Racing SRO Pirelli GT4 America entry alongside Hannah Greenemeier. The duo currently have five podium finishes on the season including a win at Sonoma Raceway.
“I’m very excited to be racing at Indy this weekend with IMSA in Super Trofeo,” said Grisham. “Indy is a track I’ve had some good fortune at in the past and I’m hoping to carry that into this coming weekend. I’ve only made one prior IMSA start in the Mazda MX-5 Cup, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to be back competing as part of the IMSA weekend.”