Looking to build on breakthrough home victory

Shizuoka, Japan (13 September 2024) - The Heart of Racing Team will head to Fuji Speedway this weekend for the penultimate round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The North American-based team heads to Japan fresh off of a win at the team’s home track of Circuit of the Americas just two weeks prior. 

Ian James, Daniel Mancinelli, and Alex Riberas have impressed in their first full WEC season together, combining for podium results with the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3 in half of the races thus far, taking second place finishes at Qatar and São Paulo in addition to their most recent home win.  

“I’m excited to get back to racing after the strongest weekend of the season for the Heart of Racing,” said Riberas. “I believe everyone on the team is extremely motivated and I love that there is not a lot of downtime between Austin and Fuji. The team has great momentum going on right now and I’m just excited to get back with the guys. On top of it, Japan is one of my favorite places in the world to go to. I’m confident that we will have a strong weekend and will continue to grow as a team.” 

Last season James, Mancinelli, and Riberas made their first laps around the Japanese circuit. After learning the track under wet conditions, James qualified the Aston Martin fourth. The six hour race had a change in weather making for a dry warm start, the trio ultimately crossed the finish line seventh. 

“We had a solid weekend at Fuji during our first time there in 2023,” said Mancinelli. “This time we have the advantage of all three of us drivers knowing the track. We also have the momentum from our stellar weekend in COTA just a few weeks ago. Our goal this weekend remains the same - finish on the podium.” 

The Heart of Racing has had six consecutive podium finishes in its Aston Martin Vantage GT3’s in both IMSA and WEC competitions. James, Mancinelli, and Riberas hope to continue the Heart of Racing’s momentum into the next round of WEC where the No. 27 Heart of Racing entry is currently fourth in championship points standings just 37-points behind the current points leader. 

The Six Hours of Fuji will take the green flag Saturday night at 10:00pm ET (Sunday 11:00am local time) with live coverage on MAX and WEC.TV.