IMSA Lime Rock: Heart of Racing Astons take both class wins

Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas staved off pressure from the Vasser Sullivan Lexus of Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat to score a first victory of the season in the Pro class, while victory for HoR stablemates Roman de Angelis and Marco Sorensen in GTD points completed a clean sweep for Aston Martin and closed the gap in the pro-am class point standings.

The 160-minute race got underway with Gunn leading from Hawksworth and Antonio Garcia's Corvette.

Mike Skeen, driving the #32 Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3, led the GTD class to the green flag, but faced an immediate challenge from Frederik Schandorff's Inception Racing McLaren and survived contact at the chicane to hold the lead.

GTD points leader Madison Snow started deep in the field, but managed to make up three positions on the start in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW.

Gunn remained firmly in control of the GTD Pro class as the first pit cycle began, but ended up behind both Hawksworth and Garcia.

The first full-course caution came nearly 30 minutes into the race when Porsche driver Alan Metni overshot the braking point into Turn 1 and rammed into Jarett Andretti’s Aston Martin, sending both drivers off. Metni limped his wounded machine back to the pits while Andretti retired on the spot.

Many drivers took the opportunity to pit during the yellow-flag period, and Gunn regained control of the race. He then quickly pulled away, holding an advantage of over six seconds at one point.

But in GTD, the order had shuffled with Snow now leading the way. Unfortunately, he would face a major setback as PMR was hit with a drivethrough penalty for contact in the pits.

That took it out of contention, with PMR ending up eighth in class, and the key beneficiary was its chief championship rival the #27 HoR Aston, which with de Angelis still aboard inherited the lead.

#23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3: Ross Gunn, Alex Riberas

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

The final set of green-flag pit stops commenced with just over an hour remaining, bringing with it driver changes throughout the field. And then, another FCY when Brendan Iribe (in for Schandorff) found the tyre barriers just shy of pit entry.

Green-flag running resumed with 48 minutes to go, with Riberas now behind the wheel of the GTD Pro-leading Aston. He was kept honest for the remainder of the stint by Barnicoat, until a mistake at Turn 1 with five minutes to go finally gave Riberas some breathing room.

Any hopes the GTD pole-sitting #32 Mercedes had of challenging class-leader Sorensen went awry when Mikael Grenier spun through the infield grass. 

Julien Andlauer in the Kellymoss with Riley Porsche gave his best to chase down Sorensen, but was hindered by the left-front fender appearing to work loose.

Riberas held on to win by just three tenths of a second, with the Pfaff Motorsports Porsche of Patrick Pilet and Klaus Bachler beating Garcia and Jordan Taylor's Corvette to the final spot on the podium less than a second behind.

IMSA Lime Rock Race Results (168 laps):

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info

     

Driver Info			Main Information Additional Data
Cla	Drivers	#	Class		Chassis	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points	Retirement
1	R. Gunn Ross Gunn A. Riberas Alex Riberas Heart Of Racing Team	23	GTD PRO		Aston Martin Vantage GT3	168	-		4
2	J. Hawksworth Jack Hawksworth B. Barnicoat Ben Barnicoat Vasser Sullivan	14	GTD PRO		Lexus RC F GT3	168	+0.336	0.336	5
3	K. Bachler Klaus Bachler P. Pilet Patrick Pilet Pfaff Motorsports	9	GTD PRO		Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	168	+0.859	0.523	4
4	A. Garcia Antonio Garcia J. Taylor Jordan Taylor Corvette Racing	3	GTD PRO		Corvette C8.R GTD	168	+1.138	0.279	5
5	R. De Angelis Roman De Angelis M. Sorensen Marco Sorensen Heart Of Racing Team	27	GTD		Aston Martin Vantage GT3	168	+14.443	13.305	4
6	A. Udell Alec Udell J. Andlauer Julien Andlauer Kellymoss with Riley	92	GTD		Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	168	+14.998	0.555	5
7	A. Brynjolfsson Alan Brynjolfsson T. Hindman Trent Hindman Wright Motorsports	77	GTD		Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	168	+15.451	0.453	5
8	P. Gallagher Patrick Gallagher R. Foley Robby Foley Turner Motorsport	96	GTD		BMW M4 GT3	168	+17.228	1.777	5
9	M. Goikhberg Mikhail Goikhberg L. Spinelli Loris Spinelli Forte Racing Powered by USRT	78	GTD		Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	168	+19.880	2.652	6
10	S. Monk Sheena Monk K. Legge Katherine Legge Gradient Racing	66	GTD		Acura NSX GT3	168	+25.336	5.456	6
11	P. Hyett PJ Hyett S. Priaulx Seb Priaulx AO Racing	80	GTD		Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	168	+25.893	0.557	5
12	D. Juncadella Daniel Juncadella J. Gounon Jules Gounon WeatherTech Racing	79	GTD PRO		Mercedes AMG GT3	168	+26.841	0.948	6
13	B. Sellers Bryan Sellers M. Snow Madison Snow Paul Miller Racing	1	GTD		BMW M4 GT3	168	+30.943	4.102	7
14	R. Ward Russell Ward P. Ellis Philip Ellis Winward Racing	57	GTD		Mercedes AMG GT3	168	+37.213	6.270	5
15	M. Skeen Mike Skeen M. Grenier Mikael Grenier Team Korthoff Motorsports	32	GTD		Mercedes AMG GT3	168	+38.011	0.798	5
16	B. Auberlen Bill Auberlen C. Hull Chandler Hull Turner Motorsport	97	GTD		BMW M4 GT3	167	1 lap		5
17	F. Montecalvo Frankie Montecalvo A. Telitz Aaron Telitz Vasser Sullivan	12	GTD		Lexus RC F GT3	166	2 laps		6
18	B. Iribe Brendan Iribe F. Schandorff Frederik Schandorff Inception Racing	70	GTD		McLaren 720S GT3 EVO	102	66 laps		3
19	A. Metni Alan Metni K. van Berlo Kay van Berlo Kellymoss with Riley	91	GTD		Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	46	122 laps		3
20	J. Andretti Jarett Andretti G. Chaves Gabby Chaves Andretti Autosport	94	GTD		Aston Martin Vantage GT3	41	127 laps		2
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