Tag: Mario Farnbacher

Forte adds Farnbacher for full season of IMSA GTD competition

Mario Farnbacher will join Misha Goikhberg in the No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracán for the full ISMA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. Goikhberg has had Loris Spinelli alongside him in the past two seasons that resulted in …

Mario Farnbacher will join Misha Goikhberg in the No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracán for the full ISMA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

Goikhberg has had Loris Spinelli alongside him in the past two seasons that resulted in fifth-place finishes in the points standings each year. For 2025, it will be two-time GTD champion Farnbacher, who spent last season in a partial program with Heart of Racing. Canadian Goikhberg and German driver Farnbacher have been teammates in the past, but this will be their first time as co-drivers.

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“It’s my first day in the new job and it was nice to get into this new environment and into the new challenges as well,” Farnbacher said yesterday after his first laps with the team. “I think the first test day today was good. Definitely a lot of things that are new that I need to learn and get my head around. I think we made some good progress and are getting to know each other as a new team. Really looking forward to the future and the Roar and Daytona weekends. I think we have a strong package and I’m really looking forward to this season. I’d like to thank the team and Lamborghini for giving me this opportunity.”

Big Machine Racing yesterday announced a partnership with Forte Racing that will have NASCAR driver Parker Kligerman in the car for Daytona. Forte has not yet announced its third driver for Daytona and the other Michelin Endurance Cup races.

Goikhberg and Spinelli have had four podiums in the past two seasons – three second-place finishes and a win at Motul Petit Le Mans in 2023 with Patrick Liddy. Forte Racing GTD Program Manager Michael Harvey is hoping to build on that success, starting with a strong Rolex 24 at Daytona.

“It’s a pleasure to watch this group grow,” Harvey declared. “We are very committed to taking the next step as we fight for a championship. So happy to continue this journey with Misha, and super excited to add a multiple champion like Mario to the program, His experience will be invaluable. We consider ourselves extremely fortunate to be able to add Parker to our Rolex charge, definitely a talent who will shine over the 24 hrs.”

Forte’s first official outing with its new driver pairing will be the Roar Before the 24 on Jan. 17-19, the weekend preceding the 63rd Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Farnbacher enjoying being back as Heart of Racing’s super sub

Mario Farnbacher isn’t exactly a substitute in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage Evo in GTD PRO – he’s raced the car twice this year as the endurance addition in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring – but …

Mario Farnbacher isn’t exactly a substitute in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage Evo in GTD PRO – he’s raced the car twice this year as the endurance addition in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring — but this is his first time competing in an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship sprint for Heart of Racing, in his second stint with the team. Farnbacher is taking Alex Riberas’s place as Ross Gunn’s partner at Laguna Seca while Riberas competes in the World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Spa.

“It’s great. There’s a chance again to be in the paddock, be around the team,” said Farnbacher of the opportunity. “Obviously it’s still kind of new with the new car, new environment, also a little bit old environment because of the past. But thank thanks to Ian [James, team principal] and Heart of Racing for the trust in me, and also Ross for for letting me drive with him.”

Farnbacher hasn’t raced at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in a few years, but has a good history at the track – he won GTD with HoR and Riberas in 2016, then again with Meyer Shank Racing in 2020 with Matt McMurry as Farnbacher was on his way to his second GTD title in the Acura NSX.

He’s stepping into generally familiar territory, but there is a new challenge with a heavily revised racetrack.

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“There’s obviously always a change, especially now here with the new asphalt and a track that’s going to be a new thing to experience, because we haven’t been testing here and a bunch of other teams did,” Farnbacher said. “We are starting from zero here, but it’s a different format – it’s not an endurance race, so you have to be a little bit quicker with everything. We are restricted on tires as well, so that’s another thing to keep in mind.”

New track conditions, but he knows the team. It might take a little bit of extra driver change practice to get the dance just right, but otherwise it’s like Farnbacher has been a part of Heart of Racing the whole time, and expects it to be a seamless transition in partnering with Gunn.

“We’ve been working together since Daytona and we knew each other before, but never as a teammate. We [always had] a little friendship going on. Even when I wasn’t part of the team, I always was kind of part of the team because of the past, the history. It was dinners with them sometimes, and just…being there. Obviously, now driving together…it’s been simpler.”

Farnbacher and Gunn ran fourth and seventh in GTD PRO through the two practice sessions for Sunday’s Motul Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N, so the old-but-new pairing bodes well.