Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 Takes IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Championship Lead with Second Place Finish Friday
Lone Star Racing Steps Up to Lead the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Ranks in Saturday’s 12 Hours of Sebring with a Fourth-Place GTD Finish in the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 as the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 Team and Co-Drivers Bryce Ward and Dan Arrow Take IMSA Pilot Challenge Championship Lead With Second Place Finish
SEBRING, Florida – Lone Star Racing stepped up to carry the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing flag Saturday in the 74th running of the 12 Hours of Sebring with a fourth-place GT Daytona (GTD) class finish with co-drivers Scott Andrews, Lin Hodenius and James Roe Jr. in the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. Contesting the five-race IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup (IMEC) championship for the third consecutive year, Lone Star’s fourth place was a career-best IMEC result, topping the previous high sixth place showing in January’s Rolex 24 At Daytona.
The GTD focus heading into the weekend was on two-time and reigning IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar class champions Winward Racing and its pursuit of a record third-consecutive 12 Hours of Sebring race win for Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and Indy Dontje. After Ellis qualified the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 second and Andrews clocked in fourth fastest in GTD in the Lone Star No. 80, the pair of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport GTD contenders held steady in the top five of the class running order in the race’s opening hours.
Disaster struck, however, just before the top of the third hour when the No. 57 was knocked out of the race after getting caught up in an incident between two GTD Pro entries exiting Sebring’s fast Turn 17 leading onto the front straight. Ward was just behind the accident scene in the No. 57 and one of the still spinning GTD Pro cars rolled right into his path. Ward was uninjured in the contact incident, but the No. 57 was retired from a race for the first time in several seasons with left rear suspension damage.
From there, the Lone Star team singlehandedly continued to keep the Silver Star in the GTD battle for the rest of the race. The No. 80 team and drivers persevered through the typical nighttime frenzy of the race’s final two hours and overcame more than one setback. Closing driver Andrews went off course after a hard hit from another GTD competitor with under 20 minutes to go but quickly gained some lost positions back before the checkered flag. The rebound included a pass for the fourth-place finishing position going into Turn 1 at the start of the last lap.
The third Mercedes-AMG GT3 entry at Sebring was the No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 entered in the GTD Pro class for Scott Noble, Jason Hart and Luca Stolz. After finishing third in January’s season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, the No. 48 team showed similar lead-pack pace at Sebring only to be derailed with fuel pump and related system issues. Although the issue was eventually resolved, several trips “behind the wall” in the paddock put the No. 48 team several laps down from the class leaders, and the entry was ultimately retired before the finish.
Winward’s good fortune was decidedly different in Friday’s two-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race where co-drivers Bryce Ward and Dan Arrow went two-for-two in 2026 podium finishes in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4. Following a third-place finish in January’s season-opening race at Daytona, Ward and Arrow scored a second-place result at Sebring in the top-tier Grand Sport (GS) class.
With two of the year’s 10 races in the books, the Winward No. 57 team and drivers currently have 620 points to lead both the driver and team championship battles by 40 points. Mecedes-AMG also holds a 40-point lead in the Pilot Challenge GS manufacturer championship standings.
Another GS entry at Sebring was the No. 24 Murillo Racing P1 Motor Club Mercedes-AMG GT4 of the newlywed driving duo of Aurora Straus and Kenny Murillo. The team was making its second start after an encouraging debut in January at Daytona but was one of a half dozen entries caught up in a multi-car accident at the start of the race. As the field came down at a slow pace to take the green flag, a car in the second half of the field struck another from behind. Straus was one of several competitors in the resulting “accordion” chain reaction. She was uninjured in the relatively slow-speed incident, but the No. 24 sustained too much damage to continue in the race.
Next up for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the first GTD sprint race of the year at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, April 17 – 18.
“We were one of the fastest cars on track in the Sebring race. The boys did a mega job in pit lane all day, just like Daytona, and I think the whole squad was great. Unfortunately, with about 15 to 20 minutes to go, I got hit so hard by another GTD car while making a move for third that it knocked the steering wheel out of my hands. Before I knew it, I’m in the dirt, and I got passed by five cars or so and found myself in seventh. We only had 15 minutes or whatever to work our way back, and on the last lap, I probably did one of the best moves of my life to get P4 in Turn 1. We had pace on the car that finished third the entire race, but I just couldn’t quite get close to him on the last lap.”
Scott Andrews, Driver – No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
“You want to do better, we did, and I’m so happy for the team. It’s a good result. We ended up where we started in fourth, one spot from the podium, but you still have to be proud of the performance. We finished the race, that’s always a positive, and this track is very, very bumpy and very hard on the car. We were competitive and made it to the end, so that’s always a good effort. So, we are more motivated. Sebring is awesome. It’s bumpy, that’s the first thing, but I was still learning new things in my first race here.”
Lin Hodenius, Driver – No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
“From the minute we unloaded from the truck, and it’s a credit to all of the Lone Star Racing guys, we rolled up with a brand-new and fast Mercedes-AMG GT3 right out of the box. We were P2 in practice one, never missed a beat all weekend, ran in the top four and even higher all throughout practice, and Scott had a great qualifying in P4. Then, in the race, we were never outside of the top three really all day. We were there, so obviously frustrating to just miss the podium, but I said to the guys in our debrief ‘it’s good that we’re now frustrated with a P4 because we know what we all have here together.’”
James Roe Jr., Driver – No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
“We were looking for a podium again here at Sebring, or even a win, and everything was looking good up until that point. It’s just one of these things that you have no control over. Wrong place at the wrong time. Caught out by other cars crashing in front of us. It is none of our doing. None of our drivers’ fault, and I think everybody did a great job, be that strategy, set-up or driving. It all looked very promising, but to be caught out like that of course hurts a lot. But we know what we have as drivers of the car and what we have behind us as a team. We are still in it, I think we are still the car to beat, so we are looking forward to the next race.”
Philip Ellis, Driver – No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
