Gunn, De Angelis Take Over GTD Points Lead With Lime Rock Win

Photo: Rick Dole/IMSA

Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis have taken over the points lead in the season-long GT Daytona standings following their second class win in the last three IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races.

The Heart of Racing duo took their Aston Martin Vantage GT3 to class victory in Saturday’s weather-shortened Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park, leading all but six laps in the GT-only contest.

Gunn emerged as the class leader following the opening round of pit stops despite a challenge from the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, which jumped from sixth to second courtesy of an earlier pit stop for Madison Snow, who was on an alternative strategy.

“We knew that Paul Miller threw a spanner in the works a little bit, trying to do the undercut, which was smart of them,” Gunn told Sportscar365. “But it would have left them in a slightly difficult situation in the end.

“It was very close but the guys did a really good pit stop, which gave us the lead.  It was tough to hold on during the out lap but we managed to keep the position.”

Gunn credits De Angelis’ pole run on Friday as being one of the key points of the race.

“I had a really, really strong stint but a lot of it all started with Roman,” said the Aston Martin factory driver. “He did the hard work in quali. 

“Realistically, 70 percent of the job here is done in quali because of how hard it is to overtake. That was essential that he got it yesterday with a blinding lap.

“He did an awesome first stint and didn’t put a foot wrong. He made my job a lot easier.

“It’s a strange way to finish the weekend. I would have liked to have finished it on the road for sure. But a win is a win and we’ll move onto Road America.”

With the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 of Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley finishing fifth in class, Gunn and De Angelis now hold a 28-point lead over the Turner pairing.

They also extended their lead in the WeatherTech Sprint Cup standings.

“It’s a big deal for us,” said Gunn. “We’ve slowly chipped away throughout the year. We gone from fifth to fourth to third, first and we’ll just keep chipping away.

“I think the main strength of this team is the execution and the lack of mistakes, and I’m talking about every member of the team.

“The pit stops are great. The strategy is great. The setup has been getting better and better every weekend. I feel like me and Roman have been learning the tracks quicker.

“Having to come to places we’ve never been to before and having to learn it all the time, you try and improve that skill quite often. It’s really worked out. 

“Hopefully we can keep this momentum going forward.” 

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