Connect with us

WeatherTech Championship

De Angelis: Having Gunn in One-Off GTD Return A “Huge Benefit”

Roman De Angelis on return of Ross Gunn as co-driver for Detroit this weekend…

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Roman De Angelis believes having Ross Gunn back as his co-driver for this weekend’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic at Belle Isle will help pay dividends after a challenging first half of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season for The Heart of Racing’s GTD program.

Gunn, who has moved to the team’s GTD Pro class Aston Martin Vantage GT3 full-time this year, will sub for fellow Aston Martin factory driver Maxime Martin in the No. 27 entry this weekend, with the Belgian on Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup duty at Paul Ricard.

While only confirmed as a one-off race together this year, the duo claimed the program’s maiden victory at Detroit in 2021 en route to the WeatherTech Sprint Cup title and third place overall finish in the GTD season-long points standings.

It came after finishing second on the road prior to a post-race technical infraction for the No. 39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo.

“Obviously last year was a different style of winning,” said De Angelis. “We were second on the podium, which was still a really good result for us, but I think this year we come in with good momentum.

“The car was really strong here. Qualifying was good and we had good pace all weekend last year.

“It will be nice to be back in the car with Ross. I missed him; I don’t know if he missed me but we’ll find out!”

De Angelis has rated both of his co-drivers highly although admits that Gunn’s previous experience of the Belle Isle circuit will help the team pick up where they left off last year.

“I’ve had a really good relationship with Maxime,” he said. “As everyone knows, Maxime is very, very talented. He’s done a lot in his career and obviously continues to do a lot.

“I really enjoy working with him but it’s the same with Ross.

“I think coming to Detroit, especially having Ross been in the car with me last year, is going to be an advantage. The experience of being there quite recently, with the limited track time, and there’s no testing in Detroit…

“I think that will be a huge benefit, in terms of team chemistry, it will be nice to have Ross back. We worked really well together and are similar in age.

“The vibe — me and him and the team — was really good ending last year with some really good results.

“I’m really looking forward to it.”

While yet to score a podium finish in GTD this year, De Angelis is hoping Detroit will serve as a turnaround for the program, which enjoyed a breakout season last year that was highlighted by wins also at Lime Rock Park and the season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans.

“I’ve kind of been waiting the last five weekends as a team to have that kickstart,” he said. “We haven’t had the best of luck this year.

“Everything that could go wrong seems to have gone wrong.

“Mid-Ohio we had our first uneventful race but we ran out of fuel on the last lap and had to pit. We’re having a tough time this season catching a break compared to last year where [other than] one or two races we weren’t outside of the top-five.

“This is a kickstarter for us. Myself, but more for the team, it’s tough to go five or six weekends in a row with no results when you know you have the pace, the car, and a strong lineup.

“We’re in a very difficult position [in the championship]. In the Sprint [Cup] there’s still an outside chance.

“We have to go for race wins and as a team that’s what we need. I really hope this is the week we can make it happen because I think we all need it.”

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

Click to comment
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

More in WeatherTech Championship