New Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and The Heart of Racing score maiden victory in FIA World Endurance Championship [Photo Gallery]

Aston Martin’s new Vantage GT3 recorded its maiden victory in the FIA World Endurance Championship [WEC] when partner team The Heart of Racing [THOR] took a brilliant win in the Lone Star Le Mans at the Circuit of the Americas [COTA], on Sunday.

THOR’s win was emphatic, with its drivers Ian James (GBR), Alex Riberas (ESP) and Daniel Mancinelli (ITA) leading 160 of the 164 lap total distance during the six-hour event, having started from the class pole. Riberas also recorded the fastest LMGT3 lap of the race.

The team’s principal James, who lives in North America and knows the COTA circuit well, led from the start and delivered a flawless double-stint, resisting pressure from a rival Lamborghini in his second stint. Mancinelli, the first Italian driver to win a WEC race competing in an Aston Martin, then extended the trio’s lead as their rivals faltered. When he handed over to Riberas, the gap to THOR’s nearest rival had grown to more than 20 seconds. Riberas, fresh from a podium finish with the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at VIR last weekend, then brought the car home with a perfect double-stint of his own.

Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport, said: ““This is an exceptional victory for the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and The Heart of Racing team. Congratulations to Ian James, Alex Riberas, Daniel Mancinelli and the entire organisation. The Vantage GT3, and the team, have been demonstrating winning potential for some time now in WEC, particularly with their strong performance in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and hard-fought second place in the 6 Hours of Sao Paolo. This emphatic win, combined with those in the Spa 24 Hours and class wins IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the SUPER GT Series in Japan, only serve to further underline the huge potential of Vantage in only its first year of top-level competition.”

This win was the tenth that Aston Martin has achieved in all classes at COTA since WEC began visiting the circuit in 2012. It was also the 53^rd recorded by the British ultraluxury sportscar marque since the series began, placing it third on the all-time list of manufacturer wins. It was the 123^rd occasion an Aston Martin crew had stood on the podium, and the first time that a North American team had won its class at COTA.

For THOR, this was the latest in a string of recent successes. The team, which contests IMSA’s GTD Pro and GTD classes, is second in the GTD Pro category with a victory at Watkins Glen [USA], having recorded three further podiums. In GTD, the team has also won a round at Mosport [CAN] and finished second at VIR [USA] last weekend. With victories also in SRO’s Pirelli GT4 America, the team has won in every arena in which it competes with Aston Martins this year.

THOR remains fourth in the LMGT3 standings with two races left to run in Japan and Bahrain having scored 81 points so far this season. The team is just nine points behind second place with 65 points still available.

“This feels amazing,” said James. “To do this in America, on the world stage and to get our first WEC win, it is just such a great achievement. Thanks to all the team, and everyone at Aston Martin Racing, what an effort they all put in. Everybody executed to the maximum today and the results show that. To compete in a WEC race is a dream, but to win a WEC race is on the next level so this one will be in the memory bank for a long time to come.”

Aston Martin’s new Vantage GT3 also enjoyed success on the other side of the Atlantic at Spa-Francorchamps, in Belgium. Partner team Walkenhorst Motorsport recorded multiple podium finishes in the prestigious ADAC GT Masters series. Denis Bulatov (DEU) and Mike David Ortmann (DEU), finished third overall in Race 1, while their team-mates Chandler Hull (USA) and Nico Hantke (DEU) won the Pro-Am class. Bulatov and Ortmann then went on to take another Silver class third place in Sunday’s second race.

The WEC now moves on to Japan for the 6 Hours of Fuji and the penultimate round of the championship at Fuji Speedway on 13-15 September.