The Heart of Racing Team took Aston Martin Vantage back to the podium at the 6 Hours of Fuji on September 27, recovering from a difficult start to finish second in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s LMGT3 class.
Ian James, Zach Robichon and Mattia Drudi followed their victory at Circuit of the Americas with another strong result in Japan. It was the Vantage’s fifth WEC class podium of 2026, and kept the team’s title hopes alive.
From 16th on the grid to second at Fuji
The No. 27 Vantage carried 18 kg of success ballast after its COTA win. Rain cancelled qualifying, leaving the team 16th on a grid set by practice times.
James climbed to third during his opening stints, but a pitlane penalty dropped the car back to eighth during Robichon’s run. Later, Drudi was involved in contact with a McLaren at the start of the final hour. The incident brought out the Safety Car while barriers at the entry to Turn 1 were repaired, and the Aston Martin needed a stop for a left-rear puncture.
A final fuel stop with less than half an hour remaining gave Drudi three more fresh tires. The race resumed with 20 minutes to go. After gaining two places in the stops, he charged from eighth to second and finished just over a second behind the class winner.
“We came really close to winning the race but seeing how it was going up until the Safety Car, I think we can be really, really happy with second position.” – Mattia Drudi
Aston Martin Vantage keeps the title in reach
In Aston Martin’s September 28 race report, the three drivers stood fourth in the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMGT3 Drivers on 62 points, 14 behind the leaders. The Heart of Racing Team was second in the teams’ standings, also 14 points off the lead. The release noted that 52 points remained available from wins and poles in the final two races.
The result brought Vantage’s WEC record at Fuji to 17 podium appearances across five iterations, including seven victories. The current Vantage GT3 uses a bonded aluminum chassis and a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8, sharing its basic mechanical architecture with the road car.
British GT4 titles for Turner and Hawkins
Aston Martin also had reason to celebrate at Brands Hatch, where Vantage GT4 entries collected all four British GT Championship GT4 titles at the season finale.
Darren Turner and Dan Lavery finished the season level on 143.5 points with Jessica Hawkins and Will Orton. Turner and Lavery took the overall GT4 title on countback, thanks to their wins at Oulton Park and Spa-Francorchamps. They had already secured the Pro-Am crown at Donington Park, while Grange Racing with FSR won the overall GT4 teams’ championship in its first season.
Hawkins and Orton claimed the GT4 Silver Cup. Hawkins became the third woman to win a British GT class title, following Jamie Chadwick in 2015 and Flick Haigh in 2018.
Source: Aston Martin Racing’s September 28, 2026 release via NewsPress USA.
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