Cash back rewards leader partners with first U.S. driver since 2015 in his inaugural season

DENVER, March 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ibotta, the leading digital rewards platform, today announced its sponsorship of Logan Sargeant, who is the first Formula 1 driver from the United States since 2015. This is Sargeant’s first season on the grid, and as part of the sponsorship, racing fans will see the Ibotta logo prominently displayed on Sargeant’s helmet, beginning with his race this weekend in Saudi Arabia.

Sargeant, a Fort Lauderdale, FL native, first got behind the wheel of a go-kart at five years old, kicking off his motorsport journey. Seventeen years later, Sargeant has landed one of only 20 highly coveted F1 seats, as a driver for the Williams Racing team.

“I feel incredibly lucky to have ascended to this point in my racing career. To have a respected brand like Ibotta support me in this new chapter is truly rewarding,” said Sargeant. “I am honored to have a company with such a clear purpose and a commitment to giving back as my personal sponsor.”

“When I met Logan, I knew he was the right partner for us. His determination to stand out amongst the pack reflects Ibotta’s own history, and we think it will make him an outstanding brand ambassador for us,” said Bryan Leach, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Ibotta. “We know Logan will have a positive and lasting impact on the sport – and represent the United States – in the same way Ibotta aims to transform our own market, in the rewards space. He cares about our mission and shares our pride in having given back over $1.4B in cash back rewards to American consumers,” Leach said.

Ibotta plans to use its partnership with Logan for business development purposes, to expand international awareness of the Ibotta brand, and to attract new, younger audiences to its franchise. This sponsorship is Ibotta’s second in the professional sports arena. The brand also sponsors the New Orleans Pelicans NBA team. Partnering with Logan places Ibotta within an ecosystem of some of the world’s biggest brands, while also raising awareness in key markets like Florida and Texas, where he will be racing.

For more information on Ibotta and how to make every purchase rewarding, visit Ibotta.com.

About Ibotta
Headquartered in Denver, Colo., Ibotta, Inc. (“I bought a…”) is a free-to-use cash back rewards platform that has delivered more than $1.4 billion in cumulative cash rewards to its users for making purchases in-store, on mobile apps, or via websites. Launched in 2012, Ibotta has more than 46 million downloads, is one of the most frequently used shopping platforms in the United States and offers cash back on purchases on more than 3,000 leading brands and retail partners. In addition to its owned properties, Ibotta also powers rewards programs for top retailers and makes its offer content available on a number of leading websites and apps through the Ibotta Performance Network. Ibotta was named to the 2021 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. for the fourth year in a row after debuting on the list in 2018.

About Logan Sargeant
Logan Sargeant is an American Formula 1 driver competing for Williams Racing. Sargeant is the only American driver on the Formula 1 grid and is the first American to compete in the sport since 2015. Logan is a graduate from the Williams Racing Driver Academy and previously competed in the 2022 FIA Formula 2 Championship driving for Carlin, where he was awarded Rookie of the Year by finishing fourth overall in driver standings. Bursting onto the racing scene at the age of eight, Logan took the karting world by storm. Remarkably finishing third place in only his first year behind the wheel, Logan was crowned World Junior Karting Champion in 2015, becoming the first American to win the title since 1978, and then went on to win the WSK Champions Cup in Senior karting in 2016. Logan is one of the most-awarded American Karters in history.

No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R team seeks to continue brand’s success in debut in new series

SEBRING, Fla. (March 15, 2023) — The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R co-driven by Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook look to extend Cadillac’s success in its inaugural race in a new series Friday in the 1000 Miles of Sebring.

The trio, after completing a successful Prologue last weekend on the 3.741-mile, 17-turn Sebring International Raceway circuit, combined to turn 46 laps in two free practice Hypercar sessions in preparation for the FIA World Endurance Championship season-opening race.

Max Angelelli has the distinction of winning in Cadillac’s debut in the Speed World Challenge GT class in 2004 at Sebring International Raceway and in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s DPi class in the 2017 Rolex 24 At Daytona.

“What a coincidence,” said Angelelli, who won the 2004 race from the pole in the No. 16 Cadillac CTS-V. He teamed with Jeff Gordon, Jordan Taylor and Ricky Taylor in driving the No. 10 Cadillac prototype to the victory at Daytona International Speedway in 2017 in the opening race of the DPi era.

“Both wins were unique, and both were the beginning of something big and something that is still going and growing a lot,” Angelelli said. “They were programs that became extremely successful – the World Challenge and then the DPi. I’ve been very fortunate.

“2004 was kind of I almost couldn’t believe it. We worked a lot in 2003 testing and everything and the car was just so perfect and was so great for Cadillac coming back after the Le Mans experience that didn’t bring the results everybody wanted. Then, P1 and win the first race. And in 2017, I remember the day before I was worrying about failures during the race, and nothing happened. We won the race and that was major as well.”

Angelelli also won from the pole at Road Atlanta in 2004. Cadillac earned the Manufacturer Championship in 2005 and ’07, and Andy Pilgrim won the Driver Championship in 2005.

“We have to applaud the Cadillac effort as a group,” Angelelli said. “I was just one piece of this enormous program. It was a real team effort, a real team win. My time with Cadillac goes back to 1999 and in a different position now I’m still involved, representing the constructor (Dallara). It’s been more than 20 years enjoying working with General Motors and Cadillac.”

Cadillac team learning the ropes

The 15-minute Hypercar qualifying session starts at 7:20 p.m. ET Thursday, with the race taking the green flag at noon Friday.

“To win this race, you have to have no mistakes, and that means pit road, no penalties, no issues in traffic,” said Bamber, who teamed with Lynn and Neel Jani to win the 2022 Twelve Hours of Sebring in the No. 02 Cadillac DPi-V.R. “And then second of all strategy. It’s going to be a different race for everyone with the new safety car and full-course yellow rules. And then the heat is going to be a big one. For us drivers to manage a double stint in the heat is going to be really challenging. We’ve worked on that as well at Cadillac Racing.

“With such big competition now between so many factory teams, a podium would feel like a win for our first time out against all the other new LMDh and LMH cars. We’ll make some really good calls, maybe we’ll make some bad calls, but that’s part of the whole learning process coming into the WEC.”

IMSA teams prep for first session

The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R and No 31 Whelen Engineering V-Series.R will move onto the course at 10:10 a.m. ET Thursday for the first of three practice sessions preceding qualifications at 10:05 a.m. Friday.

Cadillac, which has won the Twelve Hours of Sebring the past two years and four of the past six, participated in an IMSA-sanctioned test at the track last month with both cars.

Cadillac swept the podium in the 2022, 2019 and 2017. Last March, Sebastien Bourdais set the qualifying lap record of 1 minute, 45.166 seconds in the No. 01 Cadillac DPi-V.R. A Cadillac has started from pole in the prototype class in 2022, 2021, 2018.

Pipo Derani, co-driver of the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R, is among five drivers (and youngest) with three wins in the Twelve Hours of Sebring (2016, 2018, 2019), joining the likes of Phil Hill and Mario Andretti.

Celebrating the anniversary of the V-Series

Cadillac is kicking off a year-long celebration of the V-Series performance sub-brand that was launched at Sebring International Raceway in March 2004. It is now the Official Luxury Vehicle of the iconic racecourse.

“Cadillac made a bold move with V-Series that continues to resonate,” said Global Vice President of Cadillac Rory Harvey. “From the racetrack to the road, V-Series has transformed Cadillac and helped redefine performance luxury for thousands of enthusiasts. Over the next 12 months we will celebrate V-Series with a number of significant moments.”

The inaugural production V-Series — the 2004 CTS-V — was developed on the racetrack and previewed on Germany’s famed Nürburgring circuit. It was the first of 13 V-Series sedan, coupe, roadster and SUV models to follow. The current lineup includes the CT4-V and twin-turbocharged CT4-V Blackwing, the CT5-V and the supercharged CT5-V Blackwing, and the supercharged Escalade-V. They will be on display in the Cadillac exhibit in the midway starting Thursday.

Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing to pace the race

The Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, the high-performance sedan with a 6.2-liter hand-built supercharged V8 engine producing 668 horsepower and capable of reaching 200 mph on track, will serve as the official pace car and safety vehicle for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

The CT5-V Blackwing is a Car and Driver 10Best again for 2023: “…the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing is the greatest sports sedan on sale today, if not of all time.”

Driving home the Sebring relationship

The Cadillac-Sebring International Raceway connection will also be on display this weekend with the 2023 CT4-V Blackwing Sebring IMSA Track Edition.

The track-capable car features a special matte black paint scheme in honor of the 12-hour race and a symbol of racing in the dark and other eye-catching details that are nods to the iconic racetrack. Spectators can view the limited-edition vehicle in the Cadillac Corral.

SEBRING, Florida (March 15, 2023) – Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams and drivers bring Rolex 24 At Daytona winning momentum and early-season leads in several championships to this week’s 12 Hours of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway, March 15 – 18. Nine Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams across three classes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series compete on the legendary Sebring road course today through Saturday’s 71st running of the legendary 12-hour sports car race on the 3.74-mile Sebring road course.

The second rounds of both this year’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the Michelin Pilot Challenge series, Saturday’s featured 12 Hours of Sebring is scheduled to start at 10:10 a.m. EDT. Live coverage of the in-progress race airs on the USA Network on Saturday starting at 4:30 p.m. EDT and straight through to the finish and post-race interviews until 10:30 p.m. EDT.

In January’s season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing/Proton Competition Mercedes-AMG GT3 team and co-drivers Cooper MacNeil, Jules Gounon, Daniel Juncadella and Maro Engel broke through for the first WeatherTech Championship GTD Pro class victory for a Mercedes-AMG GT3.

The win was a fitting send off for retiring team driver MacNeil, but early-season championship leaders Gounon, Juncadella and Engel and the WeatherTech/Proton team now have set a podium repeat as the goal at Sebring on Saturday. Last year in the 12 Hour, MacNeil, Engel and Gounon secured a third-place finish in just the second race of the new GTD Pro category.

The WeatherTech/Proton No. 79 is one of three Mercedes-AMG GT3 teams competing in the 12 Hours of Sebring and the full-season WeatherTech Championship.

The No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports and No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 teams compete in the GTD class, and both were in a strong position to win in that class at the Rolex 24.

Mike Skeen, Mikael Grenier and Kenton Koch co-drive the Team Korthoff No. 32 this weekend while full-season teammates Russell Ward and Philip Ellis are joined in the No. 57 by longtime co-driver Indy Dontje at Sebring.

Team Korthoff led a GTD class-high 227 race laps at Daytona, but a potentially race-winning performance came to a crushing end with a wheel bearing issue halfway into the 18th hour of the race. The repaired No. 32 returned to finish the Rolex 24, and the team and drivers now look to recapture the same performance demonstrated for three quarters of the race at Daytona and a year ago at Sebring. With Juncadella joining Skeen and then team driver Stevan McAleer in last year’s 12 Hour, Team Korthoff finished a season-best second in GTD in 2022 at Sebring.

The Winward No. 57 led 177 race laps and contended for the GTD victory until the final 30 minutes of the Daytona opener. Ellis battled with the other GTD and GTD Pro leaders, only to be knocked out of the race after contact on a late restart, and now joins his teammates in looking for a rebound at Sebring on Saturday.

In Michelin Pilot Challenge competition, six Mercedes-AMG GT4 teams compete in the top-tier Grand Sport (GS) class in Thursday’s two-hour race that starts at 1:20 p.m. EDT.

Murillo Racing placed both of its Mercedes-AMG GT4 entries in the top-10 at the Daytona opener and looks for more success this weekend.

The No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Kenny Murillo and Christian Szymczak finished fourth at Daytona while the team’s No. 56 sister entry of Jeff Mosing and Eric Foss crossed the finish line in eighth. Both Murillo teams have run well at Sebring in the recent past, with Kenny Murillo making his GS debut at Sebring in 2020 and Mosing and Foss battling for the win until the end before a fourth place finish last year.

Winward complements its GTD entry in the WeatherTech Championship this year with the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 for Bryce Ward and Daniel Morad who run their second Pilot Challenge race together on Thursday.

Longtime Mercedes-AMG Motorsport customer team Lone Star Racing competes in GS this year with the duo of Anton Dias Perera and Scott Andrews in the No. 27 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4. The team ran in the lead pack at Daytona and still managed to finish 15th despite a late pit infraction penalty.

A first-year Mercedes-AMG Customer team set for its second Pilot Challenge race at Sebring is the No. 23 JTR Motorsports Engineering Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Anthony McIntosh and Jared Thomas.

The Pilot Challenge Mercedes-AMG customer lineup at Sebring is completed by reigning Bronze Cup Champions Gary Ferrera and Kris Wilson in the No. 11 Wilsports Mercedes-AMG GT4.

The Sebring 12 Hour weekend gets underway today with Pilot Challenge practice and qualifying. WeatherTech Championship competitors take to the track for the first time Thursday for three practice runs, culminating with a nighttime session from 7:45 – 9:15 p.m. EDT. The GTD Pro and GTD classes qualify together in a 15-minute session starting at 9:15 a.m. EDT Friday while race-day Saturday starts with a 20-minute warm-up session at 8 a.m. EDT before the 71st running of the 12 Hours of Sebring goes green at 10:10 a.m. EDT.

Maro Engel, Driver – No. 79 WeatherTech Racing/Proton Competition Mercedes-AMG GT3: “I am really looking forward to Sebring. Another absolutely iconic race on the schedule – on the world calendar – and last year there we had our first podium together as a team with WeatherTech Racing and Proton, Cooper, Jules and myself. It was amazing to send off Cooper with a Daytona win and now we look forward to Sebring. It’s a great track and a circuit on which our Mercedes-AMG GT3 has gone very well. We are looking for another strong run this weekend. There’s plenty of opportunity out there if you race smart and if you race well. We will try to get ourselves in contention, we always have a strong car with the Mercedes-AMG GT3, and I believe a really strong team with WeatherTech Racing and Proton behind us. It will be up to Jules, Dani and myself to execute at the best level and hopefully we will be there at the end of the race. Another podium is the aim, and another win would be a dream.”

Daniel Juncadella, Driver – No. 79 WeatherTech Racing/Proton Competition Mercedes-AMG GT3: “We just ran a smooth race at Daytona with no mistakes and with a great strategy toward the end of the race. It was a great start to the year in IMSA and now going to Sebring as the championship leaders. It’s time to build on that lead and continue successfully into the season. I really enjoyed my first taste of Sebring last year with Team Korthoff. I guess the track suits our car pretty well, so even if we have slight changes to the rules that don’t favor us, we are still going to be contenders for a strong result. We have won races or had top results when the rules didn’t favor our car in the past, so if you have a clean race with a good strategy, you can have a good result. The 12 Hours of Sebring is another highlight of the year, so I really want to perform at our best. We are very motivated to do so, and I believe we have a strong team behind us to fight for what we want.”

Jules Gounon, Driver – No. 79 WeatherTech Racing/Proton Competition Mercedes-AMG GT3: “Our goal this weekend will be to maximize our performance and hopefully get a good result and big points for the championship. We had a big fight at Daytona with several other cars and extracted the most out of our Mercedes-AMG GT3 to get the win. Cooper did a great job, and my teammates Maro and Daniel drove amazingly. But mostly the team did a super job in strategy and car preparation. I am very happy for how it went and really looking forward.”

Philip Ellis, Driver – No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “We are looking forward to the 12 Hours of Sebring, especially after Daytona. The team showed great potential again. We also had a great race at Sebring last year until we had a technical issue while leading. I think we know pretty well what to do with the Mercedes-AMG GT3, everybody has been through Sebring before, and we had a great test with all of the boys. So, I think we are ready and prepared to have a great and successful weekend at the 12 Hour and hopefully score some valuable points for the championship. That is, of course, still our aim this year for Winward. It was very heartbreaking to just miss out at Daytona with only half an hour to go. It just makes us stronger as a team coming back to Sebring. It’s a huge strategy play in the race to be there in the last half hour to get a shot at the podium. All of our guys are experienced enough and have done enough in IMSA to know how to get us there to fight for the podium at the end. That’s our goal.”

Kenton Koch, Driver – No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: “It feels good to come back for the 12 Hours of Sebring! We had a good test a couple of weeks ago there, everyone feels confident in the Mercedes-AMG GT3, and we were able to run through many times. We learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t. Hopefully, all of that preparation turns into a good result!”

Eric Foss, Driver – No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: “This is going to be the last season for me and Jeff, so I am just really looking forward to continuing a good run this season. We had a good points score at Daytona, and it’s good to have the No. 72 team back this year. I first raced here at Sebring in 1999, I always love racing here, and the Mercedes-AMG GT4 has always been a really balanced platform, which makes it a really good car here, especially with how bumpy this place is.”

Kenny Murillo, Driver – No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: “Sebring is where I made my GS debut in the summer race here in 2020. It was with Tim Probert in the No. 65 Mercedes-AMG GT4, and I learned a lot that weekend. I still implement a lot of what I learned then into my racing now. I feel like every time we roll out of the trailer it is pretty good here. We are confident going into this week. It’s a really long season, it is all about being consistent, and staying in the top five is the goal. At the end of the year, if you have really been consistent all season, you could have a really good shot at winning the championship.”