WeatherTech staff AMG got here out of Sebring with a 4 level lead within the GTD Professional Endurance Cup standings, 29 – 25.
The No. 79 WeatherTech Racing/Proton Competitors Mercedes-AMG GT3 staff and co-drivers Jules Gounon, Daniel Juncadella and Maro Engel lengthen their early-season IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD Professional class factors lead with a third-place end in Saturday’s 71st operating of the 12 Hours of Sebring.
Mixed with a victory in January’s season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, Saturday’s third-place consequence provisionally offers the WeatherTech No. 79 staff and drivers a 26-point lead over the closest GTD Professional competitor, 708 – 682. Mercedes-AMG leads the GTD Professional producer championship standings by the identical margin.
Ranging from the again of the general area after a ride-height infraction took away Juncadella’s third-place qualifying run Friday, he and the WeatherTech/Proton staff transferring to the entrance within the opening phases of Saturday’s race. Juncadella took the GTD Professional lead for the primary time within the race’s second hour, and from that time on the No. 79 staff and drivers had been within the battle for the win till the end.
Juncadella, Engel and Gounon mixed to guide the GTD Professional area thrice for a complete of 34 laps, however the caution-plagued race finally got here right down to a method name that couldn’t play out on the finish.
‘Final yr we had been actually blissful to be on the rostrum, as a result of it was sudden. All of us felt just like the WeatherTech Mercedes-AMG GT3 was the automotive to beat at present…’
A pair of late cautions – two of the 4 yellow-flag durations within the race’s ultimate two hours – and GTD visitors between closing driver Juncadella and the highest two GTD Professional opponents thwarted a ultimate run to the lead. Juncadella crossed the end line in third, simply 4.326 seconds behind the GTD Professional winner, duplicating the staff’s end in final yr’s race.
Within the GTD class, Crew Korthoff Motorsports and Winward Racing confirmed the identical Mercedes-AMG GT3 tempo as WeatherTech as each groups battled for his or her class lead for almost all of the race.
For the second-consecutive race, the No. 32 Crew Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 and staff drivers Mike Skeen, Mikael Grenier and Kenton Koch mixed to guide probably the most GTD laps within the class with 135 excursions of the three.74-mile street course on the entrance of the sector.
Grenier was within the No. 32 for the ultimate struggle to the end however the lack of green-flag racing time within the ultimate hour pressured him to make a cost to the entrance from mid-pack. Sadly, one of many a number of opponents Grenier slipped by to succeed in third place pitted with injury that race officers decided was triggered throughout Grenier’s move. The No. 32 was assessed a pricey drive-through pit penalty for “incident duty,” and Grenier finally crossed the end line in tenth place.
Winward Racing led the GTD race thrice for a complete of 23 laps and staff driver Philip Ellis was battling for the lead once more with simply over 4 hours remaining. Ellis went into Flip 1 battling for the highest spot with one other competitor and the 2 automobiles simply got here collectively within the high-speed left flip. The contact appeared gentle however was simply sufficient to interrupt the precise entrance suspension of the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 and despatched the staff into eventual retirement from the race. Ellis and co-drivers Russell Ward and Indy Dontje had been categorized 18th in GTD within the ultimate race outcomes.
Sebring was additionally the second of 4 rounds within the 2023 Michelin Endurance Cup that awards the highest performing drivers, groups and producers in every WeatherTech Championship class within the yr’s 4 endurance races.
The WeatherTech staff and drivers and Mercedes-AMG got here out of Sebring with a 4 level lead within the GTD Professional Endurance Cup standings, 29 – 25 over the second-place opponents.
Crew Korthoff additionally garnered some useful GTD Endurance Cup factors and go away Sebring second within the staff and driver standings, three factors out of first place, 25 – 22. Mercedes-AMG is second within the GTD Endurance Cup producer battle simply two factors shy of the lead, 26 – 24.
In Thursday’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Problem race, a number of Mercedes-AMG GT4 groups persevered by way of a caution-filled and hard-fought two-hour battle to go away Sebring nicely positioned within the early-season Grand Sport (GS) championship standings. 4 Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Buyer Racing groups left Sebring ranked within the top-six in GS factors.
Final yr’s Pilot Problem GS championship runner-up finishers Jeff Mosing and Eric Foss have moved their 2023 title bid off to a robust begin within the No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4. Mixed with an eighth-place end in January’s season-opening race at Daytona, a seventh-place consequence Thursday at Sebring vaulted Mosing, Foss and the No. 56 staff to second within the GS factors race with 470 factors, simply 10 tallies behind the main staff and drivers.
The debuting duo of Anthony McIntosh and Jared Thomas within the No. 23 JTR Motorsports Engineering Mercedes-AMG GT4 have additionally used a pair of top-10 finishes within the season-opening races to issue into the championship dialogue. McIntosh, Thomas and the No. 23 staff are third within the championship standings with 450 factors after Sebring.
The highest ending Mercedes-AMG buyer staff within the Sebring Michelin Pilot Problem race was the No. 27 Lone Star Racing/Bluff Metropolis Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 co-driven by Anton Dias Perera and Scott Andrews. The No. 27 squad’s fourth-place end Thursday moved them to fifth within the championship with 440 factors.
The No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Kenny Murillo and Christian Szymczak led 29 of the Pilot Problem race’s 41 laps solely to be knocked from competition within the ultimate flip of the final lap within the struggle to the end. Regardless of the frustration, Murillo, Szymczak and the No. 72 staff rank sixth within the GS championship with 410 factors.
Reigning Pilot Problem GS “Bronze Cup” Champions Gary Ferrera and Kris Wilson have additionally mounted a fast title protection of their No. 11 Wilsports Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4. Ferrera and Wilson mixed a category win Thursday within the No. 11 with a third-place end at Daytona to go away Sebring atop the Bronze Cup standings with 670 factors.
Subsequent up for GTD Professional and GTD Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Buyer Racing opponents is Spherical 3 of the WeatherTech Championship on the Grand Prix of Lengthy Seaside, April 14 – 15. Mercedes-AMG GT4 opponents in Michelin Pilot Problem GS return to motion at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Might 12 – 14, sharing the weekend card with Spherical 4 of the WeatherTech Championship.
Pictures: WeatherTech