Announcement that Heart of Racing Team’s Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3 driven by Zacharie Robichon and Mattia Drudi will flank Ian James in the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship grid has taken another step towards completion on 3rd of February.
The American outfit enjoyed a successful season in 2024, as James together with team-mates Alex Riberas and Daniel Mancinelli converted pole position into victory on home soil at COTA and scooped the runner-up spoils in both Qatar and São Paulo in the fiercely-disputed new LMGT3 category, on their way to fifth in the overall standings.
James will be returning to the cockpit of the iconic British sportscar for the third consecutive campaign in FIA WEC, while with Riberas moving up – to Aston Martin’s nascent Valkyrie Hypercar project – and Mancinelli moving on, Robichon and Drudi will join the squad’s Team Principal on the driving strength.
The Canadian made his debut in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2022, going on to compete for Proton Competition in FIA WEC last year, claiming four top ten results. A Heart of Racing Team driver in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2024, Robichon recently reached the rostrum in the 24 Hours of Daytona and triumphed in the Bathurst 12 Hour race. He is also a former title-winner in IMSA’s GTD division and the European Le Mans Series’ LMGTE class.
Drudi, by contrast, will be making his series bow later this month. The Italian has contested the GT World Challenge Europe for the past six campaigns, securing multiple wins – including the latest edition of the 24 Hours of Spa behind the wheel of an Aston Martin Vantage – and the 2023 Sprint Cup crown. Most recently, Drudi partnered Robichon in Heart of Racing Team’s third place-finishing car in the 24 Hours of Daytona.
