​Top ten spot for Gunn in Australia

​Ross Gunn raced for the Heart of Racing by SPS team in last weekend's Repco 12 Hours of Bathurst - the opening round of the 2024 Intercontinental GT Challenge.
By James & Freddie Beckett
Published 20th Feb 2024, 13:49 GMT
Ross Gunn in action in Australia. Photo: Gruppe C Photography.Ross Gunn in action in Australia. Photo: Gruppe C Photography.
Ross Gunn in action in Australia. Photo: Gruppe C Photography.

The Vale-based racer joined Ian James and Alex Riberas for the season-opening Intercontinental GT event in Australia that saw action starting before dawn, and competitors battling around the legendary 6.2km Bathurst Mountain course located 200 miles straight west of Sydney.

The Heart of Racing team started their season at Daytona in January, using an Aston Martin Vantage, but for this race opted to use a Mercedes AMG GT3 in partnership with the SPS Automotive team.

Prior to the race weekend, Ian James, the Heart of Racing team boss, said: "Driving at Bathurst has long been a dream and now it has finally come true. I have watched racing here for so many years, and I didn't ever think I would have the chance. To do this race with Alex and Ross is a great feeling."

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The Repco 12 Hours roared into action shortly before the sun rose over the stunning course, with many of the world's leading GT drivers taking on the challenge for an early season victory, and running just outside of the top 20 positions for the opening stints, the Heart of Racing Mercedes began to climb up the leaderboard as the race progressed.

Numerous safety car periods slowed the race's overall pace, allowing the leading cars to remain in close formation that allowed a frantic dash to the finish line during the final 30 minutes of the race to decide the overall victor.

At the fall of the chequered flag, it was the Manthey EMA Porsche 992 GT3R of Laurens Vanthoor, Ayhancan Guven and Matt Campbell leading the way to claim the win, just two seconds ahead of the Sun Energy 1 Mercedes of Kenny Habul, Jules Gounon and Luca Stolz. By finishing third with Liam Talbot, Christopher Hasse and Kelvin van der Linde, Audi made it three different manufacturers on the podium.

Gunn and his team-mates crossed the line in tenth position - taking second position in the Pro-Am class. Afterwards Gunn said: "This was an enjoyable race and it was good to have the opportunity to drive here at Bathurst. This is one of the world's great tracks and I want to thank Ian [James] for giving me this opportunity."

Gunn's next race action is the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar series at the Sebring International Raceway in Florida on March 16th.

Related topics:AustraliaMercedes