DANVILLE, Virginia – Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams prepare to compete in the next-to-the-last races of the season in both the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series this weekend at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR). For the first time since July at Watkins Glen International, two Mercedes-AMG GT3 teams will compete in the GT Daytona (GTD) class in the weekend’s featured IMSA WeatherTech Championship Michelin GT Challenge on Saturday, followed by four Mercedes-AMG GT4 teams competing in the top-level Grand Sport (GS) class in Sunday’s featured two-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge race.
Saturday’s two-hour, 40-minute WeatherTech Championship race is the second and final event of the year exclusively highlighting the production-based cars of the GT Le Mans (GTLM) and GTD classes. The “GT-only” feature race airs live at noon EDT this Saturday, October 9, on the flagship NBC network. Sunday’s two-hour Pilot Challenge race streams live at 2:05 p.m. EDT on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold. International viewers can watch both races live at www.IMSA.tv.
The last time a pair of Mercedes-AMG GT3 teams competed in a WeatherTech GTD race was at Watkins Glen in upstate New York in a special sprint race leading into the Fourth of July holiday weekend, Friday, July 2. The same teams carrying the Mercedes-AMG flag this weekend – the No. 28 Alegra Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 and No. 32 Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 – both put in solid performances at The Glen in July.
Alegra, with co-drivers Michael de Quesada and Daniel Morad, finished a season-best fifth, matching the same result secured less than a week earlier at The Glen in the Sahlen’s Six Hour race.
Gilbert Korthoff crossed the finish line seventh in the Glen sprint to record a solid result in the team’s IMSA GTD debut with co-drivers Guy Cosmo and Shane Lewis.
Alegra competes for the first time since the July Glen race at VIR with de Quesada and Morad remaining the No. 28’s driver duo.
Gilbert Korthoff makes it third GTD start of the season in Saturday’s Michelin GT Challenge race. Cosmo now pairs with former VIR Mercedes-AMG GT3 race winner and highly regarded track “ringer” Mike Skeen, who makes his first start in the Gilbert Korthoff Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Morad also has race-winning Mercedes-AMG GT3 experience at VIR, and he and his Alegra teammates join the Gilbert Korthoff squad in aiming for nothing short of additional season-best finishes this weekend.
Four Mercedes-AMG GT4 teams compete in the GS class in Sunday’s two-hour Pilot Challenge race in which – like Skeen with Gilbert Korthoff – one entrant is calling on a familiar driver with winning experience.
Eric Foss will co-drive the No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 for the first time with a driver other than long-time teammate Jeff Mosing. Kenny Murillo, the 25-year-old son of team owner and former champion driver Ken Murillo, steps in for VIR after Mosing broke his foot shortly after he and Foss finished fourth at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca one race ago.
Just last weekend, the younger Murillo clinched a driver championship with the family team in another series co-driving a Mercedes-AMG GT4. He has also stepped in several times in recent seasons as a substitute driver or endurance-race addition in the team’s sister No. 65 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4, which is co-driven this weekend by Brent Mosing and Tim Probert.
After a one-race absence, the No. 11 FCP Euro Mercedes-AMG GT4 team and co-drivers Michael Hurczyn and Nate Vincent is set for its sixth race of the season after debuting at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course last May. The team deliberately skipped last month’s round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and arrives in VIR focused on improving on a season-best finish of ninth place at Lime Rock Park in July.
Another strong in-season addition to the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport customer ranks in Pilot Challenge is the No. 18 CB Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 team with co-drivers Mark Kwamme and Trenton Estep. Kwamme, Estep and the No. 18 team make their third GS-class start this weekend following their first races at Road America and Laguna Seca.
Noticeably absent from the VIR Pilot Challenge entry list is Winward Racing, which has been one of the top two-car Mercedes-AMG Motorsport customer teams in the series since 2018. Winward has ended its GT4 program for the remainder of 2021 to focus on its return to the WeatherTech GTD ranks in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 in November’s Petit Le Mans.
Winward won the Rolex 24 At Daytona in its team debut in both the twice-around-the-clock race and the GTD class last January in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. The winning co-drivers were Russell Ward, Indy Dontje, Philipp Ellis and Maro Engel.
The Petit Le Mans effort, which will have its driver lineup confirmed in the coming weeks, is another step in Winward’s planned move up to fulltime competition in the 2022 WeatherTech Championship with the Mercedes-AMG GT3.
The in-season race date change for the VIR event to October from its original August date also factored into Winward’s decision. Ward along with key team personnel have been committed to this weekend’s GT World Challenge Endurance Cup race in Barcelona since early this year.
Guy Cosmo, Driver – No. 32 Gilbert Korthoff Mercedes-AMG GT3: “I’m really excited. This program since its inception has overcome a lot. As far as timeline and personnel, to start a team mid-season is a big undertaking. We’re at the point where the team has hired some really great people that were available, and we’re showing up at VIR with probably our most focused and prepared effort. I know from the team side we’re a big step forward, and from the driver’s side, showing up at VIR knowing that the car is where it needs to be, I’m just really excited about it. It’s a track that I love, I know we can perform really well there, and being teamed up with Mike Skeen is going to be really outstanding. He’s a great guy and he knows this place like no other. I think the Mercedes-AMG GT3 should suit about every single spot on that track. I’m not well versed in the strengths and weaknesses of the cars we’re racing against, but I know how well this Mercedes-AMG GT3 performs. I’m honestly expecting to be a really strong contender because we’re showing up with this Mercedes-AMG GT3.”
Eric Foss, Driver – No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: “The Mercedes-AMG GT4 is such a great car. It’s super consistent, it’s very drivable and inspires a lot of confidence. Plus, Kenny knows this car very well, he just clinched a championship in it, so he is the perfect plug-and-play option. I think we will do well. I have co-driven with Jeff for so long that it would be strange driving with anybody but him, but I don’t feel that way with Kenny because he has been with us since the beginning. He was just a kid when Jeff and I were starting out, and we have seen him grow up and learn with the team all of these years. He is ready and has the talent to back it up.”
Kenny Murillo, Driver – No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: “Eric is a really big mentor to me, and we’ve always dreamed about running the same car together. Unfortunately, it’s at the expense of Jeff Mosing, but everything I do at VIR and maybe Road Atlanta will be for Jeff. It’s going to be a totally different vibe without him. He’s the life of our team, the heart of our team, we’re going to miss him this weekend but hopefully I can make him proud.”
