Heart of Racing Anticipating “Baptism by Fire” at Spa

The Heart of Racing is “setting the bar very low” for its debut weekend in the FIA World Endurance Championship, with team principal Ian James saying the team will use the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps as a learning opportunity.

James and his Heart of Racing squad are set for an unexpected maiden outing in the world championship, stepping in following longtime GTE-Am competitor Paul Dalla Lana’s immediate retirement from the sport announced on Monday.

The No. 98 Aston Martin Vantage AMR is competing in Belgium in the familiar blue and yellow color scheme of the Phoenix-based team, with Daniel Mancinelli and Alex Riberas joining James to complete the lineup.

James described the period leading up to the team’s debut as a “whirlwind” but added that it fits into the previously expressed ambition to expand to WEC.

The Briton previously revealed to Sportscar365 that his team had filed a full-season entry for the 2023 season, but was placed as first reserve.

“Obviously, Paul retiring was kind of a last-minute thing as far as I’m aware of,” James told Sportscar365.

“WEC and Le Mans have been on our radar since the beginning of the year, we’ve put an entry in for both of those.

“When the opportunity came up, Aston Martin Racing contacted me to see if we could step into the void at the last minute.

“Super whirlwind transition and a lot has gone on on both sides of the Atlantic in the last week.”

As part of the shakeup, James has stepped away from a planned outing in this weekend’s Pirelli GT4 America round at NOLA Motorsports Park, with Roman De Angelis replacing him to race alongside Gray Newell.

While the car and garage at Spa feature Heart of Racing branding, James explained that much of the entry into this weekend’s six-hour enduro remains the same as the previous two championship rounds.

The team is still listed as ‘NorthWest AMR’ on the official entry list and James further noted that the chassis used for this race and the remainder of the season is the same car raced previously, which is owned by Dalla Lana.

The crew for this weekend’s race consists entirely of NorthWest AMR personnel, which includes key figures like AMR Head of Performance Gustavo Beteli.

“Going forward from the next round we’ll integrate more of the Heart of Racing crew,” noted James.

“It’s going to be a learning experience and any added benefit we can bring to the program.

“We’ve been very successful in the past by joining the two crews together and we have a good working relationship so it’s only a positive.”

James underlined that this weekend will be mostly about the team learning the ropes, getting as much running under their belts in preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“This weekend really is going to be a learning experience for us,” he said. “We’re setting the bar very low and learning the car, learning the track and all these variables.

“It really will be a baptism [by] fire for us, but really we want to get going, learn a bit about the championship, learn the working differences between this and what we do in America.

“We’ll get some testing in before Le Mans and then hopefully we’ll be ready to rock and roll there.

“WEC is at a very high level, these teams here are very well drilled, the drivers, most of them know it inside out so any extra track time and championship time we can get hopefully for the future is going to be a benefit.

“Very unexpected and sometimes you get these opportunities in life and you have to take it.

“We’re just fortunate that we’re in a position to do that.”

James Predicting Lineup Stability for No. 98 Crew

The Heart of Racing’s driver lineup, consisting of himself, Mancinelli and Riberas, is likely to remain in place for the remainder of the WEC campaign.

While Riberas is a team regular, Mancinelli is a new recruit and has not raced for the outfit before.

The 34-year-old Italian competed in last year’s Indianapolis 8 Hour with Conquest Racing and raced in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round at Long Beach two years ago with Scuderia Corsa. He also boasts previous SRO America experience.

James revealed that Mancinelli had already been slated to drive for the team’s original GTE-Am entry before it was placed on the reserve list.

“He’s a friend of mine that I’ve known for the last couple of years,” James said of the Silver-rated driver.

“Originally when we were going to do a WEC entry he was on the bill to do that.

“I think he’s an underrated driver. He hasn’t really had a great opportunity to sustain and show his abilities and hopefully this will give him a showcase to do that.”