How The Heart of Racing ended two year victory drought at 2026 Lone Star Le Mans…..
The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3 Evo driven Ian James, Zach Robichon and Mattia Drudi scored the team’s first LMGT3 victory for two years as the American flagged team toasted its second win at the Lone Star Le Mans race in three years.
After locking out the front row in qualifying the #27 and #23 Aston Matins ended the fifth round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship with a best ever 1-3 finishing formation after an epic battle with multiple competitors.
But it was the Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 EVOs that appeared to be the early favourites as they moved into an early 1-2 during the opening exchanges of the race.
Their plans to score a first WEC win faded when the #77 Ford Mustang driven by Eric Powell was forced to serve a drive-through penalty for a Full Course Yellow infraction and then the #88 car of Stefano Gattuso had to make a pit stop after a collision with the #34 Racing Team Turkey by TF F Chevrolet Corvette driven by Salih Yoluc.
With the Aston Martins loitering in the leading group, it was still not a clear potential winner as the #91 Manthey DKR Engineering Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo of James Cottingham, Timur Boguslovskiy and Ayhancan Guven lead for a large part of the mi-phase of the race.
The Porsche’s progress was only halted when a five-second penalty was issued for gaining an advantage off track, meaning that the #27 Aston Martin was allowed back in to the lead.
After Zacharie Robichon executed a strong couple of stints at the wheel and then handed over to the rapid Mattia Drudi, the home win for Heart of Racing started to form as the Italian was able to hammer in lap times that pulled away from the Porsche threat.
Drudi also had to contend with rising temperatures in the Aston Martin cockpit after his air conditioning stopped working.
“It was probably one of the toughest races in my life,” said the Italian.
"The car was super quick and we did a really good job undercutting cars in front of me when Zac and me swapped. After the first stint during the Safety Car the AC (Air Conditioning) stopped working, so let's say it became quite hot in the cockpit.
“Luckily we had clean air in the first couple of laps, so I was able to use the fresh tyres and pull away slightly from the cars behind, and then being able to manage that.
“After one half season trying to get the win, we were stopped always by something small and it never worked out. It's finally really good to get the first win in the home race for the team, and also a double podium with the #23 in third position. I'm really happy, as everybody did a mega job," concluded Drudi.
As well as Ford and Porsche, Aston Martin had to contend with a threat from a quick #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Maxine Martin, Rui Andrade and Martin Berry.
They though were ultimately compromised by a succession of penalties – one for a collision and one each for FCY and VSC violations. That ensured that the Mercedes was only able to finish in sixth position at flag fall.
Drudi scintillating pace after the last of two safety cars as the final hour approached gave a useful buffer of five seconds over the #91 Porsche, which claimed its best result of the 2026 campaign.
The #23 Aston Martin driven by Gray Newell, Eduardo Barrichello and Jonny Adam meant a first ever LMGT3 double Aston Martin podium was clinched.
The win for the #27 Aston Martin was the first WEC victory for both Robichon and Drudi, while James celebrated his second after being part of the 2024 triumph. Aston Martin joined Porsche, Ferrari and Corvette as multiple winners in all three GT classes that have run in the WEC since 2012.
The wider implications for the 2026 title chase were fascinating as most of the leading championship protagonists faltered, with just the #21 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of Francois Heriau, Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera scoring points for fourth position.
The #33 Corvette of Ben Keating, Jonny Edgar and Nicky Catsburg was spun around at the first corner and struggled to finish a lowly 12th, while the #92 Porsche suffered a steering problem and finished out of contention.
The Goodyear Wingfoot award, voted for by the fans, went to #91 Manthey DKR Engineering driver James Cottingham.
The LMGT3 title fight will continue with round six of eight – the 6 Hours of Fuji in Japan – on 25-27 September.
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