Sebring, Fla. (March 11, 2025) – The Heart of Racing (THOR) embarks on a new chapter of the team’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship history this weekend as the team prepares to make its first start in IMSA’s GTP category in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 15th.
Sebring International Raceway will host the Aston Martin THOR Team Aston Martin Valkyrie’s American debut in the IMSA GTP class. Piloting the new No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie will be long-time Heart of Racing drivers Ross Gunn, Roman De Angelis, and Alex Riberas.
The Heart of Racing has a long history with the No. 23 as it was the number the team first competed with when making its IMSA debut in 2020. That year De Angelis raced alongside Ian James and Darren Turner finishing second in the Twelve Hours of Sebring after starting from eleventh in the GTD category. During the 2021 edition of the race De Angelis and James were joined by Gunn to finish third.
The Gunn, De Angelis, and Riberas lineup holds five Twelve Hour of Sebring podium finishes with Riberas having won the race in 2015. In an IMSA sanctioned test at Sebring International Raceway in February De Angelis and Riberas completed 170 laps over five sessions with the Aston Martin Valkyrie. The trio is coming off of a successful Aston Martin Valkyrie international debut at the World Endurance Championship’s season opener in Qatar.
The Heart of Racing Team’s No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage entry will have Casper Stevenson, Tom Gamble and Zacharie Robichon behind the wheel in the GTD class. 2025 marks the fourth start at Sebring International Raceway for the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin with its best finish of fourth in 2024 with Robichon, De Angelis, and James.
Stevenson will make his second IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship start in Sebring. The young driver competed at the Florida track in 2023 with the World Endurance Championship where Stevenson finished tenth. Stevenson was able to get a refresher on the bumpy course during the February test, having the fifth fastest lap time in session two.
Gamble and Robichon are also both coming off the Qatar race weekend, where Robichon finished sixth with James and Mattia Drudi in the No. 27 Heart of Racing LMGT3 entry. Gamble will make his second start at Sebring International Raceway after competing with the Heart of Racing in 2022. Robichon is no stranger to Sebring, having won his debut race at the track in the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA in 2018. More recently, Robichon won the Twelve Hours of Sebring in 2021.
The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring will have qualifying on Friday March 14th at 11:25am ET on the Peacock app. Saturday morning at 10:00am ET the Peacock app will have flag to flag coverage of the twelve hour enduro with additional updates on the Heart of Racing social media platforms.
The Heart of Racing Team Quotes :
Ross Gunn : “Sebring this year is a very important event for us, more so than normal. It will be the first IMSA race for the Valkyrie which is incredibly exciting. Of course we are on a very steep learning trajectory right now but everyone is working super hard to bring as much performance to the car. I’m really looking forward to getting out there. I think it’s going to be a huge challenge both physically and mentally because Sebring is always one of the toughest but it’s what we have trained hard for. It’s very exciting to have the V12 engine going around Sebring, it’s going to be an incredible weekend.”
Roman De Angelis : “I’m looking forward to heading to Sebring for the first IMSA race with the new Aston Martin Valkyrie program as well as the first race for me and Ross’ full season campaign! After having the first WEC race under our belts a few weeks ago I think we’ve learned a lot as drivers and as a team that will help us keep progressing. Sebring is such an iconic and unique event that I look forward to every year and to get to do it in the top class for the first time is something I could have only dreamed of, definitely going to be a special weekend.”
Alex Riberas : “The Twelve Hours of Sebring may be the highlight of the year for the Heart of Racing IMSA program, marking the debut of the Aston Martin Valkyrie in America. It’s also the first LMH car to race under IMSA’s regulations which is a huge milestone for everyone involved in the project. If there is one thing about Sebring that everyone knows is that it’s very challenging, we know we are stepping into a big, big weekend for everybody. I’m really looking forward to being on an amazing track with such an amazing car.”
Casper Stevenson : “Sebring is one of my favorite tracks. I raced there in 2023 for a round of the World Endurance Championship and have been hoping to come back ever since. I was able to come back for the test in February that went really well. I’m looking forward to twelve hours of action!”
Tom Gamble : “I can’t wait to be at Sebring again! It’s an awesome circuit with so much character. We had a good result last time out in Daytona and had a strong pace, so I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do here and hopefully go a couple steps higher on the podium.”
Zacharie Robichon : “Sebring is one of my favorite races and to be heading there after our strong race in Daytona has us very excited and motivated. Tom and Casper had a strong test back in February and I’m looking forward to hitting the ground running this week.”
