Driver Ross Gunn secures his first international title in USA

WINNERS: Ross Gunn (right) and Roman De Angelis secured the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup championship title in the United States last weekend.

Ross Gunn raced to championship victory in the IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup at the Virginia International Raceway in the United States last weekend, sharing a Heart of Racing Aston Martin GTD (GT3) with Candian racer, Roman De Angelis, writes James Beckett.

By finishing the latest round of the IMSA series as the fifth GTD crew across the line, Gunn and De Angelis were able to secure enough points to wrap up the 2021 title - Gunn's first in international motor racing.

“It’s obviously a massive honour to be in this championship in the first place, but to be with a such a great bunch of people and a great team and have such a successful year, it’s been an amazing ride, amazing journey,” said the Vale-based racer.

Continuing, “Roman has done a phenomenal job - he’s a star of the future and he’s going to go a long, long way in this sport. Our aim this weekend was to clinch the Sprint Cup title, and we’ve done that. I am very proud of everybody.”

De Angelis commented, “I couldn’t be prouder of everyone at the Heart of Racing Team. Aston Martin Racing has obviously given us a pretty decent driver with Ross, and a really good car to fight with. I’m really happy for them, but I’d also like to thank the team principal, Ian James. If it wasn’t for him, I don’t know if I’d be in a car. I’m just really proud of everyone and am really just at a loss for words.”

Scoring overall victory in Virginia was the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Nick Tandy and Tommy Milner, their GTE specification car leading home a similar Chevrolet, driven by Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor.

* Tom Ingram remains in the hunt for the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship title, despite suffering the disappointment of a race victory being taken away from him on Sunday afternoon at Donington Park.

Ingram swept to victory in the second BTCC event of the weekend, only to be penalised by race stewards for a 'push to pass' incident with Gordon Shedden. Ingram was handed a one second penalty as a result, dropping the Hyundai EXCELR8 Ginsters with TradePrice Cars runner down one position.

Eleventh and tenth place finishes in races one and three, leave Ingram third in the points table with just one race meeting, and three races, remaining at Brands Hatch in ten day's time. Ash Sutton (Infiniti) continues to lead the title race with 316 points, with Colin Turkington (BMW) second on 284. Ingram is a further six points back with 278.

* James Wood will race a Bugatti Type 35 Grand Prix car at the Goodwood Motor Circuit this weekend. Wood will be in action at the track's Members' Meeting, an event that was postponed earlier this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Wood has raced the car previously at Goodwood, and recently tested the French-built Bugatti at Wiltshire's Castle Combe. The Members' Meeting brings together a wealth of historic racing machinery, and closely follows the track's running of the Revival which took place just last month.