De Angelis Credits Heart of Racing’s “Faith” in Podium Chase

Roman De Angelis credited Aston Martin and Heart of Racing Team for giving him the “faith” to bring home the maiden podium for the Valkyrie at Motul Petit Le Mans.

De Angelis, Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas finished second in Saturday’s ten-hour IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season finale, only behind the winning No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R.

“It’s pretty special to cross the line for the first podium for the Heart of Racing and Aston Martin,” said De Angelis.

“I think for myself, it’s kind of interesting to be in the top class racing against guys that have raced in Formula 1 or IndyCar and things like that, where I didn’t really come from that background.

“[It was] definitely pretty special to be involved in this program and to have the trust from the Heart of Racing and everyone involved on that side and Aston Martin as well for the faith in me this year to think that I was ready to be in this position.

“It’s pretty special and honored to be a part of it and super fortunate to be in a position where they put their trust in me.

“It’s just a very surreal moment and hopefully many more of these.”

The Valkyrie emerged as a contender for victory in the closing stages of the race as De Angelis’ co-driver Gunn put in a charging stint that saw him close up on both the eventual race-winning No. 31 Cadillac as well as the No. 6 Penske Porsche 963.

De Angelis described his predicament in the closing stint as “stressful” as he was briefed before taking over the No. 23 machine that he would be fighting for a top-three finish.

“Obviously we kind of knew what position we were in,” he said. “I was told before I got in the car that third was sort of where we were fighting based on fuel strategy.

“The 31 and the 6 were quite a bit ahead of us and had a lot less fuel to put in.

“So I kind of just thought that I was managing third and hopefully getting our first podium of the Valkyrie program, which is obviously an exciting day for all of us on the IMSA side as well as the WEC side.

“But the last stint, I don’t think I realized until 15 minutes to go that we were kind of in the shot for the win.

“Obviously, we had a few cars that were locked down between us and the 31, which was unfortunate.

“It would have been fun to at least have a chance to fight but I think based on where we’ve been all year and the progress that we’ve made from the start, obviously we’re racing against manufacturers that have been in the top category for two or three years with lots of experience at every track.

“Obviously it’s been a a tough year from our position, but I think if you had told me this morning that we were going to be second, I probably would have laughed.

“Not because the effort wasn’t there, but just based off Indy, which was a pretty hard weekend for all of us.

“To to be second in our first season, at Petit Le Mans, which is normally one of the hardest races of the season, is pretty special. I’m honored to be a part of that.”

Gunn: First Valkyrie Podium “Huge for Everyone”

Gunn, meanwhile, has hailed the podium result as a significant achievement for the program globally, both with its U.S.-based operation and as well as its two-car FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar effort.

“It’s huge for everybody,” he said. “You expect [results] from a new program, but we worked super hard at the start of the year on the reliability. We didn’t really focus on anything performance-wise until after Le Mans.

“Then to be finishing two cars at Le Mans was a huge, huge achievement for everybody. I think that was, again, our aim at the start of the year was to try and achieve that.

“To be honest, it’s been a privilege to be a part of something that’s been continuously improving.

“I think for us the main thing was that on the end of the season, as I already mentioned, we wanted to be fighting for something a bit more than just a fifth or a sixth.

“I think this weekend is definitely something that we can be proud of and hopefully use that going into next year and be hopefully fighting for more.”