Winward Racing No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 and Co-Drivers Russell Ward and Philip Ellis Return to Podium Form at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

A race that was going their way, but a late full-course caution that didn't, resulted in a near-miss, second-place IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Daytona (GTD) class finish for the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 team and co-drivers Russell Ward and Philip Ellis Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Ellis was just pulling alongside the GTD race leader and preparing to make what could have been the race-winning pass when a full-course yellow flag with less than 15 minutes to go froze the field and ultimately ended the two-hour and 40-minute race under caution. Despite the close loss, the Winward team and drivers still gained valuable ground in their lead of the 2025 GTD championship and regained some of the points lost last month at Watkins Glen International after an early contact incident.

The reigning GTD Champions, Winward was fast off the trailer at CTMP and rarely ran out of the top three in Sunday's race that was run in sunny and nearly perfect conditions. The strong run was anchored by starting driver Ward's second-place GTD qualifying effort on Saturday, and he held the runner-up position on track throughout his race-opening stint.

After Ward quickly and capably completed his required driving time, Ellis took the wheel of the No. 57 during the team's first pit stop and continued the strong pace his teammate showed in the race's opening 45 minutes.

Ellis moved the No. 57 into the lead for 14 laps at mid-race, and – after another top pit stop by the Winward Racing crew with an hour to go – eventually worked his way back up to second for the fight to the finish.

A restart with 17 minutes to go put Ellis in a position to make his move on the GTD leader. Two minutes later, however, the final yellow flag that ended the race was shown just as Ellis was attempting the pass.

The strong points haul went a long way in making up for Winward's narrow loss. Coming into CTMP holding the GTD driver and team championship lead by 60 points, the No. 57 squad left Canada with a 93-point lead, 1,902 – 1,809, over the closest driver and team challengers.

Mercedes-AMG continues to lead its defense of last year's GTD manufacturer championship title with an expanded 2025 tally of 2,086 points, 174 markers ahead of the second-place manufacturer.

Next up for the GTD class in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition is the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America, August 1 – 3.

Russell Ward, Driver – No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: "I really can't give the guys enough accolades. We just seem to be in incredible form, the motivation is high, and everybody is just excited to be there, and the results are coming as a consequence. We have always been really, really good at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, and back in 2018 we had one of our first podiums with our Mercedes-AMG GT4 there. It's a good track for us and I am proud of everybody's performance on the team, my qualifying and my run in the race, and Philip at the end. He had four overtakes to get us back in second place, and without a couple of late-race cautions, we would have been a contender for the top step of the podium. It's good to gain back some points in the championship and we just need to keep our focus and execute in the final races."

Philip Ellis, Driver – No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: "All in all we had a really strong weekend, starting off with great qualifying by Russell, one of his best, and that really set us up for a great race as well. We were a little bit unlucky on the strategy side, the way the cautions fell, but we had great pit stops again with the crew. We gained a couple of seconds on everybody else during our stops, as we always do. They make my life much easier and gave me a great car where we could then also attack and make up some positions on track. Ultimately, those were the keys to success for this weekend. Just a great weekend. Russell has done a mega job, the team has done a mega job, and we are happy to be able to stretch our lead again a bit on the guys behind."

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