Ian James (racing driver)
Ian James is a British racing driver and principle of the Heart of Racing Team, competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship. James has 11 total sportscar wins.[1]
In 2004 he had a class victory (LMP2) at the 2004 12 Hours of Sebring and won the LMP2 driving title in the 2004 American Le Mans Series.[2]
In 2015 James had a class victory (GTD) at the 2015 12 Hours of Sebring.[3][4]
In 2020 James founded the Heart of Racing Team.[5]
In 2023 James not only won the GTD class at the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona, but was the top GTD performer, beating out the more highly structured GTD Pro teams.[6] This win was the first for Aston Martin at the 24 Hours of Daytona, 59 years after their first attempt.[7]
Motorsports career results
Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
| Year | Team | Class | Make | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Team Seattle | GTD | Porsche 911 GT America | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | DAY 15 |
SEB 3 |
LGA 8 |
DET 2 |
WGL 16 |
MOS 6 |
IMS 6† |
ELK 6 |
VIR 15 |
COA 18 |
PET 5 |
15th | 234 | |
| 2015 | Team Seattle | GTD | Porsche 911 GT America | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | DAY 18 |
SEB 1 |
LGA 3 |
DET 1 |
WGL 7 |
LIM 4 |
ELK 8 |
VIR 3 |
COA 4 |
PET 7 |
4th | 267 | ||
| 2016 | Team Seattle | GTD | Porsche 911 GT3 R | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | DAY 8 |
SEB 4† |
LGA |
BEL |
WGL 3† |
MOS |
LIM |
ELK |
VIR |
AUS |
PET 8† |
42nd | 27 | |
| 2017 | 3GT Racing | GTD | Lexus RC F GT3 | Lexus 5.0 L V8 | DAY 27 |
SEB 18 |
LBH |
AUS |
BEL |
WGL |
MOS |
LIM |
ELK |
VIR |
LGA |
PET 10 |
51st | 38 |
| 2019 | Audi Sport Team WRT Speedstar | GTD | Audi R8 LMS Evo | Audi 5.2 L V10 | DAY 3 |
SEB |
MDO |
DET |
WGL |
MOS |
LIM |
ELK |
VIR |
LGA |
PET |
47th | 30 | |
| 2020 | Heart of Racing | GTD | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 | Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8 | DAY 18 |
DAY | SEB | ELK DNS |
VIR 8 |
ATL 6 |
MDO 4 |
CLT 3 |
PET 11 |
LGA 4 |
SEB 2 |
15th | 199 | |
| 2021 | Heart of Racing | GTD | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 | Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8 | DAY 5 |
SEB 3 |
MDO |
DET |
WGL 3 |
WGL |
LIM |
ELK |
LGA 12 |
LBH 12 |
VIR 6 |
PET 1 |
12th | 1949 |
| 2022 | Heart of Racing Team | GTD | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 | Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8 | DAY 9 |
SEB 15 |
LBH |
LGA |
MDO |
DET |
WGL 1 |
MOS |
LIM |
ELK |
VIR |
PET 7 |
25th | 1048 |
| 2023 | Heart of Racing Team | GTD | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 | Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8 | DAY 1 |
SEB 15 |
LBH |
MON |
WGL |
MOS |
LIM |
ELK |
VIR |
IMS |
PET |
5th* | 554* |
† James did not complete sufficient laps in order to score full points.
24 Hours of Le Mans results
| 24 Hours of Le Mans results | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
| 2005 |  Miracle Motorsports |
John Macaluso Andy Lally |
Courage C65-AER | LMP2 | 115 | DNF | DNF |
| 2006 | Miracle Motorsports |
John Macaluso Andy Lally |
Courage C65-AER | LMP2 | 324 | 14th | 3rd |
References
- Staff, Speedway Digest. "Transcript: Ian James, Marco Sorensen, Darren Turner, Roman DeAngelis". speedwaydigest.com.
- "dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com.
- Camber, Negative (March 22, 2015). "Ian James, #23 team win 12 Hours of Sebring".
- Pruett, Marshall (March 21, 2015). "IMSA: Action Express throttles field at Sebring". Racer.com. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
- "James leading rapid rise for Heart of Racing in GTD". April 2, 2021.
- Dagys, John. "Engel Reflects on GTD Pro/GTD "Dogfight" of a Finish – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com.
- "Decades in the making: Darren Turner on Daytona 24 win with Aston Martin". Motor Sport Magazine. January 31, 2023.