MONTEREY, California – Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams compete on the first purpose-built road course of the 2022 International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) season this weekend in IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship and IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge races at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Four Mercedes-AMG GT3 entries bring a 2022 WeatherTech Championship podium streak, and the GT Daytona (GTD) class championship points lead, to Sunday’s featured two-hour and 40-minute WeatherTech Championship race. On Saturday, another four Mercedes-AMG GT4 teams compete in the top-tier Grand Sport (GS) class in the two-hour Pilot Challenge race.
After competing on the “roval” at Daytona International Speedway, the airport runway-based layout of Sebring International Raceway and the Grand Prix of Long Beach street circuit to open the season, IMSA visits its first natural-terrain and purpose-built road course of the season at WeatherTech Raceway.
Sunday’s WeatherTech Championship race counts toward both the season-long championship and serves as round two of the GTD-only Sprint Cup series that awards the top performers in the year’s shorter sprint races.
The GTD class runs with its traditional Pro-Am format introduced in 2014 while the new-for-2022 GTD Pro division showcases top-ranked professional sports car drivers from around the world competing in machinery like the cars used in GTD.
With the 100-minute Long Beach sprint earlier this month counting only for the GTD Sprint Cup championship, Sunday’s race on the 2.238-mile, 11-turn Laguna Seca circuit is the first chance in six weeks for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport customer teams to build on their season-opening success at Daytona and Sebring. The Laguna Seca race airs live on the flagship NBC Network starting at 3 p.m. EDT/Noon PDT this Sunday, May 1.
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport customer teams have tallied three podium finishes across both GTD classes coming to Laguna Seca, an early-season record matched by just two other manufacturers.
The most recent run of success came in mid-March’s 12 Hours of Sebring where Mercedes-AMG GT3 competitors in both GTD and GTD Pro finished on the podium.
The No. 97 Proton USA Mercedes-AMG GT3 team – which now races as No. 79 – finished third in GTD Pro at Sebring while Team Korthoff Motorsports No. 32 Mercedes-AMG GT3 took the WeatherTech Championship GTD team and driver championship points leads with a second-place finish in that class. The Sebring podium followed the Korthoff team’s breakout third-place GTD finish in January’s season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Full-season Team Korthoff co-drivers Mike Skeen and Stevan McAleer were at the foundation of the successful Daytona and Sebring races. They shared the No. 32 as a duo for the first time in a competitive run in the Long Beach sprint but will have to wait until May’s race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to team up again.
Skeen was diagnosed with COVID-19 earlier this week and will be replaced in the No. 32 by experienced Mercedes-AMG GT3 driver Dirk Müller. Müller most recently competed stateside in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 in January’s season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona where he co-drove the No. 15 Proton Competition USA entry to a top-five GTD Pro finish.
Müller has also been named as Korthoff’s endurance-race specialist for the remainder of the season and will co-drive with Skeen and McAleer later this year at Watkins Glen International and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Cooper MacNeil anchors the No. 79 driver lineup this season and welcomes a returning teammate in Mercedes-AMG Motorsport driver Daniel Juncadella to the Proton USA Mercedes-AMG GT3 at WeatherTech Raceway. MacNeil and Juncadella co-drove together with two other drivers in the Rolex 24 where a competitive run was sidelined by a technical issue Sunday morning.
The GTD race-winning No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Russell Ward and Philip Ellis comes to Laguna Seca looking for a 2022 turnaround. Ward and teammate Lucas Auer won the Rolex 24 qualifying race the weekend prior to the opener only to encounter a string of bad luck in the Daytona, Sebring and Long Beach races. Ward co-drove a Mercedes-AMG GT4 to a Michelin Pilot Challenge race win at Laguna Seca in 2019.
Another team looking to get a competitive but frustrating season back on track at Laguna Seca is Alegra Motorsports. The second-year Mercedes-AMG Motorsport customer team debuts its No. 28 Alegra Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 at Laguna Seca with team co-drivers Michael de Quesada and Daniel Morad. Alegra last ran at Laguna Seca in GTD competition in 2017.
The four-strong Mercedes-AMG GT4 entry in Saturday’s Pilot Challenge race has seen some race-week driver changes, as well. After co-driving with longtime teammate Eric Foss to a fourth-place finish in the No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4, Jeff Mosing is going to miss at least this weekend’s round at Laguna Seca.
Mosing broke a rib and bruised another in a fall while docking his jet boat recently. He will be replaced by winning GT4 driver Kenton Koch, who received the call up from the Murillo team just this past Monday. Koch makes his Mercedes-AMG GT4 race debut, but he has previous experience with the platform behind the wheel of a Mercedes-AMG GT3 early in the 2018 GTD season. Saturday’s race is also Koch’s first in Pilot Challenge since 2019.
The Mercedes-AMG GT4 competes in the Pilot Challenge’s top-tier Grand Sport (GS) class that this year has seen the addition of a Bronze Cup championship to the competition.
Gary Ferrera and Kris Wilson earned not only an eighth-place overall finish in the No. 11 Capstone Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 at Sebring but also the Bronze Cup victory for the second time in as many 2022 races.
Ferrera and Wilson also secured Bronze Cup honors in the season-opening Pilot Challenge race at Daytona. It was the debut race of the Bronze Cup, a new championship within the overall 10-race GS schedule for Bronze-rated drivers, which most commonly designates sportsman or “Am” competitors.
Ferrera and Wilson look for a third-straight Bronze victory on Saturday.
The Murillo team also includes the No. 65 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Brent Mosing and Tim Probert and the No. 72 team entry co-driven by Christian Szymczak and Kenny Murillo.
Mosing – Jeff Mosing’s brother – and Probert finished second in Bronze Cup at Daytona in the No. 56.
Szymczak and Murillo finished 10th at Daytona but had a competitive run at Sebring end with a race-ending contact hit from another competitor in the closing stages. The pair of native Californians look to rebound this weekend on a Laguna Seca circuit they know well.
The WeatherTech Raceway weekend schedule gets underway today, Friday, April 29, with opening practice sessions for the WeatherTech Championship and Pilot Challenge.
Saturday’s schedule features final WeatherTech Championship practice and qualifying for both series. Competitors in both GTD classes qualify for 15 minutes beginning at 12:50 p.m. PDT while the 11:20 a.m. PDT qualifying session for GS sets the grid for that afternoon’s two-hour race that is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. PDT.
Sunday begins with a 20-minute WeatherTech Championship warmup at 8 a.m. PDT before that afternoon’s two-hour and 40-minute race that goes green at 12:10 p.m. PDT. Live race coverage on the flagship NBC Network begins at 3 p.m. EDT/Noon PDT.
Cooper MacNeil, Driver – No. 79 Proton USA Mercedes-AMG GT3: “I have a lot of laps at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. I’ve won a lot of races there in Ferrari Challenge, one win in a GT3 car in another series, a podium last year and in 2019, but now would like to win one in IMSA. The track is one of my favorites. There is nothing that really compares in racing to driving up the side of the hill and then the more than five-story plunge down through The Corkscrew. The track is known to be tough on tires over a stint, so we will have to have our WeatherTech Mercedes-AMG GT3 set-up to manage the wear of the Michelin tires.”
Daniel Juncadella, Driver – No. 79 Proton USA Mercedes-AMG GT3: “I have not raced yet at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, but from what I see I already love the circuit. I have driven WeatherTech Raceway online many times. It just looks super cool, so I can’t wait to race there this weekend. I think it’s a good track for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 car because it has a good combination of corners, and the straights aren’t too long. My favorite part is The Corkscrew and the fast left-hand kink before The Corkscrew.”
Stevan McAleer, Driver – No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: “I am really excited to run Laguna Seca in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 this weekend with Team Korthoff. I think the car will be competitive, and coming off a strong showing at Long Beach, I expect us to be able to fight for a podium this weekend.”
Mike Skeen, Driver – No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: “It’s extremely disappointing to miss the race this weekend but I have no doubt that Stevan and Dirk will get a good result for Team Korthoff Motorsports. Our Mercedes-AMG GT3 has been quick, and the team has been doing well, so hopefully we can continue on that path. I’ll watch with interest and rejoin the crew at Mid-Ohio.”
Dirk Müller, Driver – No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: “I’m super gutted that Mike can’t make it to Laguna Seca, but I’m honored to sub in for him. I will do my very best to support Team Korthoff Motorsports and Stevan. We will fight for the big points.”
Philip Ellis, Driver – No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “The last three IMSA races we would have been on the podium if we would have finished without the tangle of issues that we’ve faced so far this season. For me, Laguna Seca will be a new track again, something I need to learn, so it will be difficult, but I’m looking forward to the challenge. Just from listening to the other drivers, it’s supposed to be low grip from the sand flying around on the track. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 is known for its long-run performance on low-grip tracks, but we will still have to stay focused on the challenge. Laguna Seca is supposed to be a lot of fun, though, especially the Corkscrew, of course. It’s quite an iconic corner if not the most iconic corner. So, I’m looking forward to it and having a good race. We’re up for it, and we just have to bring it back together to finish a race as we should, on the podium. I’m pretty confident we will.”
Daniel Morad, Driver – No. 28 Alegra Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: “The start to the year has been difficult because we’ve always had the performance to fight for podiums or wins, but unfortunately one thing or another has popped up that has prohibited us from getting those results. But we are resolved coming out to California, knowing those are the things we are fighting for, and we are firing on all cylinders right now. At one point luck will be on our side, the external factors will be on our side, and if we can keep pushing on our end and keep executing week in and week out, then at one point it will have a turn for the good. The track is tight. There’s not a lot of straights, which will definitely be great for us with the medium-speed nature of the circuit, and a couple higher-speed sections. So that will play into our hands pretty well. Also, the tire degradation tends to be one our strong suits with the Alegra Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3. Laguna is cool. It’s iconic. The Corkscrew is one of the most iconic corners in the world. When you think race tracks, you think the Corkscrew for crazy, extravagant corners. It’s fun because it’s so, so out there. It’s very blind. It’s like you’re dropping I think seven stories. It’s unreal because I live on the seventh story and it’s like me driving a car off my balcony!”
Kenton Koch – No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: “It will be my first time racing the Mercedes-AMG GT4. I have driven it in testing once, so I’m not totally unfamiliar with it, but this will be the first time I’ll be in competition in it. Eric Foss, Jeff Mosing’s longtime co-driver, was kind of a mentor of mine when I raced in the Mazda ladder system. We’ve had a really good relationship and always talked about whenever the chance might come up that it would be cool to drive together. I’ve known the Murillo Racing guys for some time now. I have known Ken Murillo since 2012. He was my engineer in Mazda MX-5 Cup in 2014 and Kenny was a little whippersnapper 10 years ago. I’ve really known them forever. I did one race with Murillo Racing at the end of 2012 in their ST (Street Tuner) car and that’s the last and only previous time I drove for Murillo. So, 10 years later I’m racing with Murillo again!”
