INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana – Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams and Mercedes-AMG bring across-the-board GT Daytona (GTD) class championship leads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) this weekend for Sunday’s Battle on the Bricks Six-Hour IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race. The next to last race on this year’s IMSA WeatherTech schedule, championship leaders Winward Racing will be joined by IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup competitors Lone Star Racing in the GTD class. A Mercedes-AMG Motorsport GTD Pro team also is entered with 75 Express returning to Indianapolis for the team’s first IMSA race since the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona in January.
Live coverage of the Battle on the Bricks begins this Sunday, September 21, at 11:30 a.m. EDT on NBC’s Peacock online streaming network and runs straight through the finish and post-race coverage until 6 p.m. EDT. The flagship NBC network adds to the viewing options with three hours of broadcast coverage airing from 3 – 6 p.m. EDT. International viewers can watch the race live on IMSA.TV and the IMSA YouTube channel.
In the most recent series race last month at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR), co-drivers Russell Ward and Philip Ellis secured a class-leading third win of the season in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 to build their biggest GTD team and driver championship leads of the summer.
The VIR win followed earlier triumphs this season for Winward in March at the 12 Hours of Sebring and two races later at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in May.
Ward, Ellis and the No. 57 Winward team come to Indianapolis a full 171 points ahead of the nearest challengers, 2,529 – 2,358, in the GTD driver and team championship standings.
Meanwhile, Mercedes-AMG has built an even bigger lead in the GTD manufacturer championship with 2,743 points, 186 points clear of the closest competitor.
Lone Star returns to IMSA GTD competition for the team’s fourth race of the season as they focus on the IMEC “championship within a championship” that awards the top performers in the year’s five long-distance races at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Indianapolis and next month’s Petit Le Mans finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Season-long team driver Scott Andrews co-drives the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Wyatt Brichacek, who makes his second start with the Texas team at Indy.
Team newcomer Lin Hodenius fills in for Lone Star Racing team owner and driver Dan Knox at Indy in what will be the 19-year-old driver’s first race start in the U.S. Hodenius, who was the youngest driver, then 18, competing in this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, is a regular in this season’s World Endurance Championship (WEC) driving for the Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3LM team.
The 75 Express team is back at the Brickyard with team owner and driver Kenny Habul reuniting with long-time professional co-driver Mikael Grenier after the duo last raced together in IMSA GTD Pro at this year’s Daytona opener.
The duo will be joined by Habul’s 22-year-old Australian countryman Broc Feeney, the current points leader in the popular Repco Supercars championship back home.
Feeney raced karts in the U.S. as a youth, but this weekend marks both his first auto race in North America and his first visit to The Racing Capital of the World.
The Battle on the Bricks is scheduled to start Sunday, September 21, at 11:40 a.m. EDT with the checkered flag flying six hours later at 5:40 p.m. EDT.
Russell Ward, Driver – No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “We’re relatively new on the block compared to some of the more established teams, but I keep coming back to the same thing: It really comes down to the people that you get behind you. Those guys kind of propel you forward, and when the drivers can’t get it done on the track, you come into pit lane, and those guys can get it done. We spend a tremendous amount of time making sure that we practice pit stops and that we spend the least amount of time in pit lane. I think it just comes down to the group that we’ve built. It is passion driven, just the passion that the whole team has to go out there and compete. Then it is about the race execution that this team continually performs every single weekend, and that’s going to be our focus going into the final two races. We’ve got a pretty decent lead over the No. 27, and hopefully we can extend that a little bit in Indianapolis. But our goal is just to race the track, see where it ends up, and make sure that we finish in the top 10 in the next two races. Then I think you can update that statistic to two-time champions.
“We are also paying our deepest respect this weekend to the young ladies that lost their lives this summer in the flash flood in the Texas Hill Country. Our Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 carries a special livery that includes the names of these 27 young people so sadly lost in this tragedy while building awareness for the Heaven’s 27 Fund, which supports the various youth programs set up by each family to honor their daughter’s life and legacy. As a Texas-based team and residents, it is our honor to support this cause, and we urge all to donate whatever they can to fund these fine programs established by the families in lasting tribute to their daughters.”
Lin Hodenius, Driver – No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “I am very excited to join Lone Star Racing and their Mercedes-AMG GT3 has been very nice to drive. We tested at Road Atlanta recently, before the WEC race at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) and now it will be great to race here for the first time, especially at a place like Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We went straight to the museum when we arrived here and seeing and learning a little bit more about all of the history here was amazing. It is excellent. The GTD Mercedes-AMG GT3 is the same basic platform as our WEC AMG GT3LM, but some of the regulations are different. We run a lower ride height over there in WEC but for the most part it is a great car that I am familiar with.”
Kenny Habul, Driver – No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3: “Indy is a special place. Good memories here over the years in both IMSA and the 8 Hour race. I love the track, and I am really excited to have Broc this year. He’s a super talent, very quick, and Mik is like a little brother to me. I don’t get to drive with him all of the time, so this was exciting to get all of us together for this one. We want to do well here and even gather as much information as we can for when we come back next month, but right now we are really just thinking about this weekend. We’ve got speed, the car was good, but unfortunately – and as usual – the prototypes are being really aggressive. I took a monster hit in practice that put me through the grass. So now we have a lot of damage to repair, but I really think we have a car for the podium.”
Broc Feeney, Driver – No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3: “For my first race in America, to do it at Indianapolis is pretty special. I can sort of only relate it to Bathurst back home with all of the history and everything about the events that happen here. Being here is just fantastic. I have some good experience in the Mercedes-AMG and other GT3 cars, probably two or three years of GT racing. The car was really good in practice this morning, even though it has been a little bit since I have driven a Mercedes-AMG GT3. But it felt good right out of the gate, it felt really comfortable. I am just really looking forward to the weekend.”
