A championship decided by four points out of more than 3100 – a 0.12 percent margin, if you like – can be analyzed to death. A couple of better positions in qualifying here, a single worse finishing position in a race there. A little luck on one day, a missed opportunity on another.
This is the tale of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD PRO title fight. The protagonists on one side: series stalwart The Heart of Racing, driver Ross Gunn and Aston Martin; on the other, upstarts AO Racing, rookie Laurin Heinrich and Porsche.
Heading into Motul Petit Le Mans, it looked like fans were going to be deprived of any real championship drama. The GTP title was almost certainly Penske’s, and almost certainly the No. 7 963. GTD was settled as soon as the green flag dropped and the No. 57 Mercedes AMG from Winward Racing went under it. The championship could have changed in LMP2, but it was unlikely. And for fan favorite AO Racing in GTD PRO, it seemed the finale was merely a formality in Rexy’s march to the title.
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But racing fortunes can reverse in an instant, and for AO that reversal came in the form of a broken cable to the steering wheel that was preventing the No. 77 911 GT3 R from upshifting, quite the handicap on Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta’s long back straight that winds its way from the slow Turn 7. It first manifested itself on a restart that saw Julien Andlauer sliding back through the field. The problem seemed to fix itself, but after Andlauer handed over to Michael Christensen, it reappeared.
A fix was necessary, and it wasn’t a simple process to replace the cable. After the repair, the No. 77 was six laps down and in ninth place. The Porsche was back on pace; but in its current position, AO had lost the championship.
Coming into the race with a 104-point margin to Gunn and the Heart of Racing Team, the championship could now go either way. AO’s cause was helped by retirements from Vasser Sullivan Racing’s No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 and some struggles for the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R that put the Porsche in seventh, but AO could have really benefitted from another competitor or two encountering issues.
The No. 23 HoR Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo was running in the vicinity of second and third. Second place or better meant the championship would go to Gunn and HoR; Third or worse an the title was Heinrich’s. For hours, the championship went back and forth.
After the final restart, Gunn was doing everything he could, including turning the race’s fastest lap, half a second better than any other GT car, as well as a whole lot of laps that were nearly as quick. He needed to pass the Risi Competizione Ferrari, with Daniel Serra at the wheel for that crucial final stint, to win the championship. But he ended up less than 2s short of second place. While claiming a Petit Le Mans podium for himself, Alex Riberas and Roman De Angelis, it was a mere consolation prize.
“What a year. In the end, it’s decided by four points,” noted Heinrich. “And if I think back throughout the season, what are four points? I mean, it’s all these small decisions to take in a qualifying or in a race.”
In the previous race at Indy, AO had lost its pole position and the 35 points that came with it, due to the car being too low. Without that, the final hours of the season wouldn’t have been a nail biter; but it was. In that moment, Gunn could practically taste the championship. But a six-hour race that didn’t go Heart of Racing’s way, while AO celebrated a victory, left the NO. 23 squad needing a miracle – on that was almost handed to them.
For Gunn and Heart of Racing, with the way the season started with the then-brand-new Vantage GT3 Evo, being in the championship fight at all was a minor miracle. The team didn’t find the podium until Detroit, and had its only victory in the six-hour at Watkins Glen. From there, the No. 23 team was only off the podium twice to vault itself into the title scrap.
“I think in many ways, we executed and punched above our weight a lot, particularly in the first half of the year,” said Gunn. “Whilst for sure, there were moments where we were unlucky or we lost a couple of points, there were also times when we were fortunate, that we were in a position where we kind of benefited in some way, so it ‘tos and fros.’
“Hindsight is always a wonderful thing, and it’s easy to look back on a season and pick everything apart, but, fundamentally, we were 1.9 seconds away from the championship.
“I think it says a lot about the IMSA championship that you can have a point system that is pretty big numerically, but the gap was just so small. It proved to be a very, very tight season, and of course, that was the tightest of the gap ever was. But there were points as well where … after Indianapolis qualifying, we were less than 10 points away. It was getting closer throughout the year, and we were chasing them; but in the end, it was not quite enough.”
Missing the championship became especially bittersweet for Gunn, as it was, for now, his and Heart of Racing’s last season in GTD PRO. After a one-off at Daytona, the team will concentrate its pro-class efforts on the Valkyrie AMR GTP program in 2025, of which Gunn will likely be a part. Heinrich will return to defend the championship for AO Racing, with Klaus Bachler as his full-season teammate. If AO can defend its championship in its sophomore year, surely all involved would prefer it done with a bit less drama.