Alton, Va
Roman De Angelis and The Heart of Racing # 24, Aston Martin Vantage GT4 wrapped the weekend with a fifth and sixth-page finish in the PRO-AM category of the Pirelli GT4 America series. Although not the weekend the De Angelis and Newell duo wanted to see, it did close the gap to second place in the points championship standings.
A rainfall during qualifying dealt De Angelis and Newell a challenging hand. Newell started in the dry before the skies opened up, securing a fifth-place position before an excursion off-track. De Angelis faced similar wet conditions, resulting in an eighth-place overall starting position.
In Saturday's race, Newell was strong, maintaining the fifth-place qualifying position throughout his stint before handing the car off to De Angelis. Roman had the pace to battle for a fourth, but he ran out of time before he was able to track down fourth place and crossed the line in fifth place.
Sunday saw more challenges as De Angelis took the green from further back in the field than he would've liked. He managed to make his way from ninth in the field while battling cooling system failures and extreme heat. Despite the excess heat, De Angelis moved his way up to fifth before passing the car off to his teammate Newell. Newell's stint was plagued by cautions, with just a few green flag laps before rounding out the weekend with a sixth-place finish in PRO-AM.
"The Aston Martin felt really good this weekend; we fought hard but came across some challenges throughout the weekend. There are a few rounds left, and hopefully, we can make up some points in the championship" Roman De Angelis.
Roman will be back in action August 2nd at Road America for third to last race on the IMSA calendar.
