Mercedes-Benz Media Newsroom USA

First-Year TR3 Racing Driver Brayton Williams Co-Drove with Coach and Teammate Daniel Morad to a Convincing First Race Win Sunday in the SRO GT World Challenge America powered by AWS Three-Hour Endurance Contest at Road America. Battling at the Front of the Field and for the Pro-Am Class Victory the Entire Race, the Best Opening Driving Stint of Williams’ Brief Career was the Springboard Closer Morad Needed to Put the No. 9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 into a Lead He Would Hold to the Finish with Just Under 40 Minutes Remaining in the First Race Run at Road America in SRO’s New GT World Challenge Three-Hour Race Era. The Pro-Am Win and Third-Place Overall Finish for TR3 Anchored a Strong Performance by the Three Competing Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Teams at Road America. The No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Michai Stephens and Mikael Grenier Continued its Pro Class Championship Bid with a Second-Place Class and Overall Showing While the Pairing of Jason Daskalos and Philip Ellis Rebounded from a Race Weekend Engine Change for a Top Five Pro-Am Finish in the No. 27 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3.

TR3 Racing became the third Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Team to secure a victory in the new SRO GT World Challenge America powered by AWS three-hour race era with a clean and convincing win Sunday at Road America with first-year team driver Brayton Williams and his coach and co-driver Daniel Morad in the No. 9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. After the best race-opening driving stint of Williams’ young career, race closer Morad muscled his way into the lead with just under 40 minutes remaining. Morad held the point for the remainder of the race and took the checkered flag for the class win – and third place overall – with a 6.433-second margin of victory.

The win was the maiden victory for TR3 Racing in an endurance race and third career win in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 in GT World Challenge after Morad co-drove to a pair of Pro class victories – and one an overall triumph – with the team at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) in 2023.

The TR3 entry also joins the pair of competing JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 entries in making Mercedes-AMG the first manufacturer competing in GT World Challenge this year to score Pro or Pro-Am race wins with each of its full-season entries. The Pro class championship leading No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Michai Stephens and Mikael Grenier has secured a pair of class victories this year – one an overall win as well at Sonoma Raceway – while the sister No. 27 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Jason Daskalos and Philip Ellis came to Road America riding the momentum of a Pro-Am class and overall victory one race prior at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

Both JMF teams rebounded from early weekend issues – including an engine swap for the No. 27 – to join TR3 in making it two Mercedes-AMG GT3 entries in the overall top-three and the entire trio finishing in the top seven in the outright running order. Mercedes-AMG was the only competing manufacturer with multiple entries to get every car to the finish line in the attrition-plagued race that saw only 14 of the 23 starters finish.

Stephens and closing driver Grenier finished second in class and overall and leave Road America with a three-point lead in the Pro class championship standings with two rounds remaining on the 2026 calendar. Daskalos and Ellis overcame virtually no practice time to secure a no-quit top-five finish in Pro-Am and seventh overall.

A trio of Mercedes-AMG GT4 entries also contested the weekend’s twin 60-minute Pirelli GT4 America races. Pro-Am class contenders Off Leash Motorsports and JMF Motorsports endured forgettable weekends – including No. 39 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 driver Marc Miller escaping injury in a heavy, multi-car accident on Saturday – but it was Am division entrants Eddie Killeen and co-driver Laura Hayes stepping up to get the Mercedes-AMG GT4 to victory lane.

After an encouraging fourth-place finish in Friday’s first sprint, Killeen and Hayes improved two positions in Saturday’s wet and wild second race to secure a podium spot with a season-best second-place finish. It was the second visit to the podium this year for Killeen and Hayes after finishing third in the No. 37 Mercedes-AMG GT4 in their first race together in the season opener at Sonoma Raceway in March.

Next up for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams in SRO America competition is another full-series weekend of competition at Barber Motorsports Park, September 25 – 27.

“It’s awesome. Daniel drove unbelievably. The win came a lot sooner than I thought it would happen, but we have put in a lot of hours on the simulator, and Daniel and I have connected quite a bit. Stepping up was a big jump, but the Mercedes-AMG GT3 makes it pretty simple to get in and just go. The racing was pretty hectic in my stint. I was coming through the kink and following a competitor and I had a big snap. I thought that was our race right there, but I hung on to it and kept pushing. We will just carry the momentum to the last two races and hopefully P1 again. Three in a row.”

Brayton Williams, Driver - No. 9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3

“It was a little bit tight out there but if you are not first you are last, and on Sunday we were first. I never shy away from a good old street fight. Honestly, it is even more fun for me when things get a little chippy. It was a super satisfying win just based on the amount of attrition on track and just the nature of the race. It was Brayton’s first win in top-level competition, which is just so awesome, and I am incredibly proud to have shared that moment with him, TR3 Racing and Williams International. Everything was perfect today. The crew did an amazing job on the pit stops. Not one mistake all through the race. Perfectly executed, well done by the engineers and I am really happy. Brayton is more dedicated to doing the simulator work than me! Early in the season, he was really thrown into the shark tank. He is really accelerating his learning curve because we are making all of the typical mistakes on the simulator. Understanding how to actually execute these moves in the virtual world avoids the detrimental outcome at the track. I love that we have so much time on there.”

Daniel Morad, Driver - No. 9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3

“A good result and great work by everyone. After a difficult weekend, we had a good car for the race and Michai did amazing as well. It was not easy, but the car is in one piece and we got some points. We had a really good car at Barber Motorsports Park last year and it is a good track for us. Still a lot of points left with Barber and Indy, which is double points again.”

Mikael Grenier, Driver - No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3

“It really is tremendous when a group comes together. It means the world to each and every one of us that’s on the team that make up JMF Motorsports with our partners Mercedes-AMG and beyond. So, we keep the fight alive. Anything can happen at any stage of the game, and that’s the beauty of motorsport as we can attest. We will keep our heads high, remain optimistic and drive forward. It was nice to get back on the horse and get driving again. It was a bit of a lull there. There wasn’t much rhythm to the race in my opening stint, but any time Mik is behind the wheel, and we have our JMF Mercedes-AMG near the front, there is opportunity.”

Michai Stephens, Driver - No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3

“It’s a testament to the team that worked so hard to pull the engine and get a new one in. We missed practice and literally only got 20 minutes of practice all weekend. To be able to salvage some points after that feels good. It’s going to be tough to make a run at the championship. Obviously, we need to win out the next two races to even make it happen. I am really good at Barber and the Mercedes-AMG GT3 is really good at Barber. It’s racing and anything can happen!”

Jason Daskalos, Driver - No. 27 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3

“That was a nice way to finish after the way the weekend kind of began. We came a long way, and when we saw rain in the forecast yesterday, we were all pretty excited. Definitely hate what happened to Marc, though, and I am just glad that he's okay. In our race, Eddie handed over a good clean car and I had some fun on the restart. People were going off, and that was my first time in the Mercedes-AMG GT4 in the wet. Really, I think it was my first time or maybe second time on Pirelli rains too. I was just trying to figure it all out in a quick amount of time. The Mercedes-AMG GT4 was fast, and I know there is more there. I wish we had another lap or two. I think we could have won it.”

Laura Hayes, Driver - No. 37 Dome Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4

# # #

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Team TR3 Racing Secures First GT World Challenge Three-Hour Race Win with the No. 9 Mercedes-AMG GT3 and Co-Drivers Brayton Williams and Daniel Morad at Road America