It’s back to the west coast of America for the latest sprint round of the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship as they embark upon their second 100-minute sprint races of recent weeks – this time from the Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Last time out from the improvised road circuit of Long Beach California we had not just the two full season Aston Martin GTP and Aston Martin Racing GTD entries from the Heart of Racing team but also a second GTD from the Van Der Steur AMR team as they took a look at what lies beyond the Endurance Cup rounds in the IMSA series.
Luckily for us, this weekend coming is no different as the #23 Valkyrie GTP and #27 AMR Vantage GTD entries from the HoRT are again bolstered by the presence of the #19 Van Der Steur AMR Vantage GTD, although there will be a differing driver line within that car this time around.
Having raced at Long Beach two weeks ago before darting back to for the opening round of the British GT Championship last weekend, Ross Gunn will be back upon another trans-Atlantic flight this week just so that he can again pair up with his #23 co-driver, Roman De Angelis for something more rewarding to them than Long Beach was.
Getting nerfed off track after a Safety Car intervention put them a lap down and for a quick sprint race, there is no recovery from that in terms of race position.
The #27 HoRT Vantage GTD of then Eduardo Barrichello and Spencer Pumpelly also suffered to the strict IMSA ruleset after a great opening stint from ‘super-sub’ Pumpelly dropped them right back into the pack after they were given a drive through penalty for a pitstop transgression. They did however secure enough points to retain a now reduced lead within their Championship standing at this still early stage in the season.
The #27 car also reverts back to a more definable partnership of Barrichello and Tom Gamble who was otherwise engaged with the team within the World Endurance Championship last time out.
The #19 Van Der Steur entry of Rory Van Der Steur and Valentin Hasse-Clot was the highest finishing Aston last time out at Long Beach after their ‘toe in the water’ exercise landing the GT3 street racing novices a P8 in class finish.
This time around, however, Hasse-Clot is otherwise previously engaged with his European Le Mans Series and Michelin Le Mans Cup Series duties back in Europe so his place will be taken by the Australian racer Scott Andrews amongst a thirty-four car entry list of GTP’s, GTD Pro’s and GTD entries.
Photo credit – Teams / social media