Gunn: Finishing Sebring “First Priority” for Valkyrie Program

Photo: Jonathan Grace

Heart of Racing Team ‘has to be realistic’ for the Aston Martin Valkyrie’s debut in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring according to Ross Gunn, who stated that getting the car to the finish in the Florida endurance classic is “the first priority” for the team.

Gunn, who also drove the Valkyrie during last month’s FIA World Endurance Championship opener in Qatar, will share the No. 23 machine with Alex Riberas and Roman De Angelis for the 12-hour race at Sebring International Raceway.

That will mark the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut for the V12-powered prototype, which previously ran during sanctioned tests at Sebring as well as Daytona International Speedway.

“To be honest, to finish is the first priority,” Gunn said.

“We were able to achieve that [in Qatar] with the 009 car, but unfortunately the car that I was driving didn’t, so I think that is a number one priority.

“I think looking ahead, a successful season for us would be to really challenge the establishment by the end of the year, but there’s so much work ahead of us to get to that level.

“If you can get through Sebring, then you can kind of almost get through any race. So having this challenge quite early on in our program is, I think, really, really important.”

Gunn struck a pragmatic tone when speaking about targets for the race beyond making it to the checkered flag, noting that the Valkyrie program is not yet at a level where it can challenge for notable results.

“We have to be realistic,” he said. “We’re not ready to be competing with the the top guys in the class. That takes time.

“We have massive respect for our competitors. I keep saying this [and] it’s definitely something that I don’t say lightly, but we’re up against some of the best teams, manufacturers and drivers in the world.

“That’s a huge challenge and we are starting from two years behind these guys. We have massive respect for them and we need to work incredibly hard to get to that level.

“This year is really going to be a big learning year for us. We have to find many ways to develop all the areas and that takes time. But we’re ready for that.”

The 28-year-old added that Aston Martin and Heart of Racing are “under no illusions how difficult the task is ahead of us,” explaining that gaining race experience at Sebring will be a big advantage to the program moving forward.

“We’re kind of in the deep end as it were, with being two years behind everybody else, but we like challenges,” he said.

“We had a successful last few years in the GT classes so our aim is to try and bring the noise to Sebring, try and gain as much mileage as we can.

“That is really essential to the program at the moment, trying to get as much information about the car.

“There’s things that we’re learning every time we turn a wheel. Sebring is a very tough track. It’s very difficult not only on the cars, but also the drivers.

“We’ve been preparing hard and to get some mileage under our belts in Qatar is definitely pivotal to uh helping our performance and preparation ahead of next weekend.

On a personal level, Sebring will mark only the second prototype start for Gunn after a career in GT machinery, following on from an appearance in the Qatar 1812km.

“It’s a very different way of driving,” he said. “The systems are completely different, so there’s a lot more that you have to do in the car to benefit the performance of the car.

“In the GTs it’s much more standard. However I’m enjoying the challenge of picking all of that up.

“I think the biggest thing is the traffic management. I kind of underestimated how difficult it was going to be to get a clear lap.

“In the GT, I think you get so used to the traffic to a point, but when you come into a category that’s passing all the cars, it’s a new challenge.

“For me, I don’t have any prototype experience, so I’m learning and constantly picking things up. But so far, it’s been quite an easy process and a quick process as well.”

John Dagys contributed to this report