Whilst the opening day of the season for the Heart of Racing team over in the FIA World Endurance Championship was something of a mixed affair success wise, the latest round of the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship was certainly something of a disappointment for team whilst the Van Der Steur team were there to learn.
Things were always going to be tough for the Valkyrie entry of Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis with the circuit demands far removed from the power characteristics of their normally aspirated V12 powerplant but being in the right place at the right time could have paid off for them.
The #27 AMR Vantage GTD had seen team reserve driver Spencer Pumpelly get drafted in due to the clash with the FIA WEC whilst Eduardo Barrichello was deliberately sent to the coastal street circuit in favour over the WEC in order to preserve their class lead after a podium finish at the two opening rounds. The #19 Van der Steur AMR Vantage GTD of Rory Van der Steur and Valentin Hasse-Clot were there to learn and develop into the demands of the IMSA sprint calendar against their more usual endurance commitments.
Qualifying had seen Gunn confirm a P7 starting slot ahead of Saturdays one-hundred-minute race but the #23 was quickly squeezed back down the order by the time to the top-flight of cars had passed the fountain for the first time whilst Pumpelly had started the #27 car from third and Van der Steur the #19 from twelve after their fastest lap was deleted for causing a red flag in an earlier session.
An early Safety Car for debris quickly muted things on track before the green flag again released the pack with Pumpelly the only Aston driver within the top ten in class at the restart.
Just the normal chaos with racing multi-classed vehicles around an improved street circuit ensued as Gunn would have over the #23 to De Angelis for the Canadian to retain fourth overall but again the #23 would lose out into the same corner as Gunn did on lap 1 as the #23 was again muscled off the racing line and into the tyre wall.
The #23 would ultimately lose a lap from this incident from which there was no recovery but Barrichello was holding P3 in GTD after his recent pit stop changeover at the halfway stage but their stop would come to attention of Race Control who would give the #27 car a Drive through penalty which would drop them from third to eighth in class.
The fourth FCY of the race allowed all to catch up with one another in GTD and with Hasse-Clot relishing his first American street circuit adventure saw the Frenchman pass Barrichello for position with just minutes to go. Eventually, the #19 Van der Steur GTD would finish best P8 in class with the #27 Heart of Racing P10 to maintain a now slender championship lead whilst the #23 Valkyrie had to make do with a P9 of their own as IMSA now looks forward to its next round of the season from the Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca in early May.
Photo credits – Teams / AMR