James: Top-Ten Finish for Valkyrie a “Big Milestone”

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Heart of Racing team principal Ian James proclaimed its top-ten finish for the Aston Martin Valkyrie, in its IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, as a significant milestone.

Ross Gunn, Roman De Angelis and Alex Riberas took the first-ever LMH-based prototype in the series to a ninth place overall result, finishing just two laps behind the winning No. 7 Penske Porsche 963.

It came in a largely trouble-free day, other than a ventilation issue in the cockpit that resulted in a nose change, as well as unidentified late-race possible gremlin in the closing laps that did not affect its ultimate result.

“To be honest, going into here, [it’s] probably the hardest race in Hypercar, period,” James told Sportscar365.

“This is harder than any of the 24-hour races to get 12 hours under your belt around here… It’s such a big milestone in the team and the car’s history, and to get some points on the board, [the] first ones for the Valkyrie.

“It’s a proud moment. Lots of hard work has already gone, but lots of hard work ahead.”

James said he was particularly proud of the work accomplished by his Phoenix-based crew, which were together for the first time on the program in race conditions.

The team’s FIA World Endurance Championship operation is based out of the UK with largely a separate crew.

“They look like they’ve been together for many years out there, so I was super proud of how they operated the car and the pit lane,” said James.

“The drivers did a great job, kept their nose clean, and I think it bodes well for the future. We’ll learn some more here and come back stronger at Long Beach.”

De Angelis echoed James’ comments in stating team made “great progress” with the Valkyrie over the weekend.

“I feel like if we can finish this race, we can finish anywhere,” he told Sportscar365. “[I’m] just super happy to be able to bring the car across the line.

“My teammates, everyone involved did a great job. Just really proud of the team.

“Qatar was a tough weekend. I think everything that we learned there, we’ve taken here, and it’s been great progress.”

Both of the Valkyries faced significantly more misfortune in its global race debut in last month’s ten-hour WEC season opener in Qatar, with the No. 009 entry of De Angelis, Riberas and Marco Sorensen finishing more than 20 laps behind and the sister No. 009 Aston retiring earlier in that race.

“Qatar was definitely tough,” said De Angelis. “I don’t think anyone thought it was going to be easy from the inside.

“We spent a lot of time working on the car and developing, and everyone worked hard. But you don’t really know what’s going to happen until you get in race conditions and you’re pushing like that.

“We’re racing against factory teams, so everyone has their stuff figured out, as we do.

“I think everyone here, as a group, as an IMSA group, it’s our first time working together in our first race at IMSA, and everyone did a great job.

“The engineers, the mechanics, Cosworth with the engine and drivetrain, everyone just did a really good job.”

The Canadian rising star, in only his second top-class prototype race, was pleased with the car’s race pace, with the its best time, set by Riberas, just over 1 second slower than the quickest in the class.

It compared to lap times set in practice and qualifying that were routinely two to three seconds adrift from the ultimate pace.

“The pace in the middle of the race is really good,” said De Angelis. “I think we had an issue later on into the race, but that’s just part of it, and we’re just going to keep learning and moving forward.

“A top-ten finish with this level, all the teams that are ahead of us and teams behind us as well have been doing it a lot longer so our first IMSA race and definitely a really tough race in general here in Sebring.

“[We’re] just really happy with how everyone did.”

Davey Euwema & Jonathan Grace contributed to this report

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John