James Expecting Heart of Racing GT3 Program to Continue in 2026

Heart of Racing Team boss Ian James has indicated that the squad is hoping to continue its GT3 programs in both the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next year, stating that while plans have yet to be firmed up, GT racing is “at the heart and core” of the team’s activities.

The team currently fields a single Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo in both WEC and the WeatherTech Championship, with Zach Robichon, Tom Gamble and Casper Stevenson most recently taking a GTD class win in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen.

Its WeatherTech Championship program with Aston Martin is currently in its sixth season, having taken landmark class wins in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Motul Petit Le Mans.

Roman De Angelis, who has since stepped up to form part of Heart of Racing’s Valkyrie GTP program, also took the GTD title in 2022.

It also recently expanded its GT3 endeavors to include GT World Challenge America powered by AWS with drivers Darren Turner and Gray Newell.

When asked by Sportscar365 about the future of Heart of Racing’s WeatherTech Championship efforts, James reaffirmed its commitment to the Valkyrie program while describing its GT operation as being at the “heart and core” of the team.

“Plans are not defined yet,” James said. “Obviously, we’ll be back with Valkyrie for sure. We’ve got to figure out what we’re doing on the GT front, but we grew up in the in the GT ranks.

“It’s been a real proving ground for a lot of the drivers that are now driving the Valkyrie. It’s really at the heart and core of what The Heart of Racing is about, so I can see the GT continuing.”

James made similar comments with regards to the team’s Aston Martin LMGT3 program, which traces its roots back to when the team took over the NorthWest AMR GTE-Am slot partway through the 2023 season.

“Again, nothing confirmed but I think [it’s] on the horizon,” said James. “It’s a good shop window for Heart of Racing. We want to be present on the grid and my expectation is hopefully that that continues as well.

“We love GT racing and like I said, that’s really where five years ago the team was born from.

“So the Hypercar is great, the GT4 is great, it’s just [that] we really have a ladder to bring people up.”

For his own part, James has been active as the mandatory Bronze-rated driver in the WEC lineup since 2023, capturing a class victory at Lone Star Le Mans last year.

Although the 50-year-old has previously floated the idea of stepping away from driving duties, he noted that the combined role of both running the team and racing “isn’t a detriment.”

“It’s always a constant thing,” he said. “I just have to sit down towards the end of the year and just see what impact the driving’s having on running everything.

“We’ve got really great people working on the program, so I have a lot of faith in that.

“So I don’t think it’s a detriment, and sometimes it’s a benefit that I can actually get a bit more of a feel for what the drivers are experiencing on the tracks and a bit of insight to share with the team and the engineering team.

“Let’s see, nothing’s decided yet, but nothing’s off the table.”