Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Team Winward Racing Secured Top Five Finishes Across a Pair of IMSA Racing Series Saturday and Sunday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to Remain in the Championship Battles in both IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar GT Daytona (GTD) and IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Grand Sport (GS). Two-Time and Reigning IMSA GTD Champions Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Team Finished Fifth in Sunday’s WeatherTech Championship Race a Day after Bryce Ward and Daan Arrow Co-Drove to Fourth in Pilot Challenge GS in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4.
MONTEREY, California – Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing team Winward Racing stayed tight in the fight for one championship and moved back into contention for another season title with a pair of top five finishes in the IMSA Monterey SportsCar Championship race weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Bryce Ward and Daan Arrow rebounded for a hard-earned fourth place finish in Saturday’s two-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race to remain close to the top of the top-tier Grand Sport (GS) class point standings. On Sunday, two-time and reigning IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar GT Daytona (GTD) champions Russell Ward and Philip Ellis secured their best finish since a season-opening victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona to move up to fourth in the GTD team and driver championship standings.
Meanwhile, the No. 24 Murillo Racing with P1 Motor Club Mercedes-AMG GT4 team of first-year co-drivers Aurora Straus and Kenny Murillo turned in a solid performance in what was essentially the pairing’s second race together in the team’s return to GS competition. Although a fuel strategy gamble ultimately came up just short, starting driver Straus improved several positions in her race-opening stint while Murillo ran in the top 10 early in his driving shift to the checkered flag.
Russell Ward and Ellis battled in or near the GTD top five for the entire two-hour and 40-minute WeatherTech race on Sunday. January’s Rolex 24 win for the 2024 and 2025 GTD team and driver champions moved this season off to a great start only to see the team knocked out of the following race at the 12 Hours of Sebring early after getting caught up in a contact incident between other competitors.
Despite another disappointing finish in April’s Grand Prix of Long Beach, Ward, Ellis and the No. 57 squad have moved to fourth in the GTD team and driver standings after Sunday’s fifth place finish. With 1,080 points in both championships, the No. 57 drivers and teams are just 23 points shy of the third-place competitors.
After third and second place finishes in the Daytona and Sebring season-opening races, Bryce Ward and Arrow have been in the Pilot Challenge GS championship conversation all season. Another podium, if not a victory, looked promising in the opening hour of Saturday’s race. Ward advanced from his 10th place starting spot into top five contention only to be spun out by another competitor in the fast downhill run exiting the famous Laguna Seca Corkscrew turn section.
Ward lost additional time waiting to safely rejoin the field but then began the No. 57’s recovery with a fast run of final laps before pitting to hand off to Arrow. From there, Arrow staged his third-straight closing-stint charge to the front in as many races to salvage a solid fourth-place finish and the valuable points that go with it.
With three of the season’s 10 races completed, Ward, Arrow and the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT4 team have 900 points, only a scant 30 points shy of the current GS team and driver championship leaders.
The Murillo P1 team took just its second checkered flag of the three races run to date after being eliminated from the year’s second race at Sebring in a multi-car accident as the green flag dropped. Undaunted, the No. 24 team and drivers continued their return to the competitive GS ranks at Laguna Seca with a strong run. Straus gained half a dozen positions to start the race while Murillo ran inside the top 10 before being forced to pit for a splash of fuel in the race’s closing minutes. Despite the near miss on the fuel calculations, Murillo still crossed the finish line on the lead lap just over 50 seconds behind the race winner.
Next up for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing in IMSA competition is the second and final four-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race of the year at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, June 5 – 7. The IMSA WeatherTech GTD Championship resumes with the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International, June 25 – 28.
“It was a pretty tough day. We didn’t seem to have the pace that we normally have. We will look and see what we are missing, even in the strategy. I think there’s some improvements we could have made all around in qualifying, strategy and the pace of the car. A fifth is a good result, and it is good points, but I think that was the maximum for the day. Tire degradation was a little more challenging than previous years, but I don’t know if that is with the track kind of wearing in or from the new tires. That is usually a place where we are not afraid to be, but it was a fun drive and a good race. I am really looking forward to Watkins Glen, it is one of my favorite places and back in the endurance rounds. We are going to welcome back our buddy Indy (Dontje) and go have some fun.”
Russell Ward, Driver – No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
“I had a great race but it’s just a shame that I got turned around out of the corkscrew. There was an incident in front of us, which checked me up, and the guy behind just ran up into our backend and turned me around. Then I was just too scared to get back onto the track because I was looking right at a train of TCR cars heading downhill and right for me. I just waited and waited and waited because it felt like it was completely blind and really, I was. I just couldn’t do anything, but finally everything was clear and I got back out there. I had a great, great time catching the TCR cars and passing them and only had two between me and the back of the GS field when I pit. Once again, the pit crew really, really stepped it up. I think we picked up five positions in the pits, which was incredible, and hats off to them. They’ve saved us so many times this year, and Daan had a fantastic recovery drive. If the crew can continue to do that, and we can continue to drive the car safely and get it home, I think the championship is well within our grasp.”
Bryce Ward, Driver – No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4
“I think generally I’m very happy despite this being a bit of a bad day for us. We had a fantastic start from Bryce, who was moving up, but then he got spun and dropped all the way to the back. He recovered, which was fantastic, and we finished fourth from where we were. I’m still learning, and I think I could have done a better job on Saturday, but I think we can be very happy and proud of what we can do when we put it all together. I think that is going to be the next step. Other than the races I have been to last year in Virginia, Indianapolis and Road Atlanta, everything is new for me this season. We’re looking at the bigger picture, the goal is clear, and we’ve had a fourth, a third, and a second, so we know what’s next! We need to drive smart, and we’re going for more than just wins, we’re playing the long-run championship game too.”
Daan Arrow, Driver – No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4
“This was really only our second race in the big scheme of things for Murillo Racing and the P1 Motor Club as a team after getting knocked out of Sebring before we even had a chance to take the green flag. So, even though we have, I guess, about eight years of history with the Mercedes-AMG GT4 it has been a while. We’re still knocking off the rust, so I think today, up until the last two laps, it went really well. Our Mercedes-AMG GT4 itself was totally on rails. I couldn’t have asked for a better car here at Laguna Seca, and the team was awesome. We made up a couple of positions in pitlane, which is really all you can ask for. Kenny was great, and everything worked out really well, but at the of the day, the strategy cards didn’t play out in our favor. We took a gamble there would be another yellow at some point in the last hour of the race, but we ended up ultimately losing. That’s just how it goes sometimes, but all’s well that ends well, and at the end of the day our car is competitive. We’re going to make the most of that at the next race.”
