Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Teams Head to Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in Contention for Numerous Championships in Season-Ending IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Competition
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams head into this weekend's Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in contention for several championships in the season-ending IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge races. Saturday's featured Motul Petit Le Mans is a 10-hour endurance race in which Mercedes-AMG GT3 teams Team Korthoff Motorsports and Winward Racing each have a chance to win team and driver championships and secure the manufacturer title for Mercedes-AMG in the WeatherTech GT Daytona (GTD) class. The Grand Sport (GS) class manufacturer championship is also the nearest title prize on the line in Friday's two-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge finale, although Murillo Racing has a mathematical chance to win the GS driver and team championships.
The Motul Petit Le Mans is scheduled to start at 12:10 p.m. EDT this Saturday, October 1, with live coverage on the flagship NBC network beginning at 12 p.m. EDT. International viewers can watch live at IMSA.com.
The No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG and driver Stevan McAleer have led or battled for the GTD championship for the majority of the season and arrive at Michelin Raceway second in the standings 45 points out of the lead. McAleer co-drives with full-season teammate Mike Skeen and Korthoff's endurance race addition Dirk Mueller this weekend.
Winward has won the last two GTD races at Road America and VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) to move into the championship conversation. The No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, and team co-drivers Russell Ward and Philip Ellis, are fourth in the GTD team and driver championship standings, 140 points shy of the leader, and likely need a race win and some poor finishes by the competition to take the GTD title. Marvin Dienst co-drives with Ward and Ellis in Saturday's race.
The third Mercedes-AMG Motorsport customer team competing this weekend is the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing/Proton USA Mercedes-AMG GT3 with the powerhouse Mercedes-AMG driver lineup of Maximilian Buhk, Mikaël Grenier and Maximilian Götz.
WeatherTech's primary driver Cooper MacNeil has chosen to step aside for the final race of the season which has opened the door for the No. 79 to return to the GTD Pro class for the first time since July's race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Three titles are on the line in Friday's Michelin Pilot Challenge two-hour race while another will be wrapped up at the drop of the green flag in tomorrow's finale.
Gary Ferrera and Kris Wilson have co-driven the No. 11 Capstone Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 to Bronze Cup victories in six of the year's first nine Pilot Challenge Grand Sport (GS) races this season.
Debuting this season, the Bronze Cup is designed to let sportsman or "am" drivers battle each other in a separate championship while still competing in the overall GS race. All the No. 11 Capstone team needs to do to clinch the inaugural Bronze Cup title is take the green flag in tomorrow's race.
Six Mercedes-AMG GT4 entries compete in the Pilot Challenge race, and a victory by any of them would seal the GS manufacturer championship for Mercedes-AMG. Any other finish ahead of the leading manufacturer – Mercedes-AMG is in second place just 10 points back – could also clinch the manufacturer crown for Mercedes-AMG.
Murillo Racing's trio of Mercedes-AMG GT4 entries includes a pair of teams battling for top-three championship honors. The team's No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 has won a GS class-leading three races this season and the team and driver Eric Foss are second in the championship standings. Although the 160-point gap to the leader will be difficult to overcome, Foss and longtime co-driver Jeff Mosing are always competitive at Michelin Raceway.
The No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Kenny Murillo and Christian Szymczak fell to fourth in the GS team and driver championship in the last race at VIR, but a top result in tomorrow's race could elevate them back into the third-place championship position. Murillo's third car is the Bronze Cup No. 65 Murillo Racing MercedesAMG GT4 of Tim Probert and Brent Mosing, who have won three races this season in the Bronze division. Combined with Capstone's six wins, the Mercedes-AMG GT4 is undefeated in Bronze Cup competition this season.
The No. 55 FCP Euro Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Mike Skeen and Trevor Andrusko returns for the season finale for its fifth race of a partial but competitive season in GS. Skeen and Andrusko secured a pair of top-five finishes in FCP Euro's most recent races, including fifth at Road America and the highest finishing Mercedes-AMG GT4 with a fourth place showing at Lime Rock Park.
The sixth Mercedes-AMG GT4 competing at Michelin Raceway nearly came home a winner one race ago. Co-driving with Anton Dias Perera, Scott Andrews took the white flag leading at VIR in the No. 21 Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 only to run out of fuel with the checkered flag in sight. The No. 21 team and drivers look for another competitive showing to close out the season at Michelin Raceway. The two-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge finale is scheduled to start at 1:10 p.m. EDT tomorrow, Friday, September 30.
Stevan McAleer, Driver – No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: "It's been a crazy season. We started off really strong, and some thought we were a little on the lucky side, but here we are going into the final race still really involved in the points. We know we have to be a few spots ahead of and beat a couple of other cars and we are just going to do our best, control what we can be in charge of and let it unfold how it will unfold. We have full expectations to go out and fight for a podium if not the win at Petit. It's full attack, and Mike, Dirk and I are all aware that we are not going to settle for second here. It's all or nothing. That last hour of the race, whoever has been put in a position to finish is when we fight for the championship."
Russell Ward, Driver – No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: "If you look at what happened here last year, you can't really control everything on the race track. You never know how it is going to turn out. We will just try to keep ourselves in the best position that we can. It's not over yet, but I think we are going to need some luck to clinch it at the end."
Philip Ellis, Driver – No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: "We have huge momentum right now. We have had a great couple races the last month or two after not having the results come our way or not finishing races where we should have. For Petit Le Mans, we will just do what we have done the last few races. Do the best we can on our side. We have great guys on the team to get us to the front, and we will just try to win our third consecutive IMSA race. For us, it is just all in, go for the win, and see how we end up."
Maximilian Buhk, Driver – No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Proton USA Mercedes-AMG GT3: "I've raced Petit Le Mans once in 2018 with P1 Motorsport. I really like the track with its elevation change and the last corner is super quick and always a challenge. As it's a 10-hour race the key factor will be to stay out of trouble. We have to be in a good position for the last hour as this is the time where the race will be decided. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 is always competitive as we could see over the years. We should be able to take advantage of tire usage as the car is always gentle on tires."
Mikaël Grenier, Driver – No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Proton USA Mercedes-AMG GT3: "It will be my first-time racing at Petit Le Mans, I am looking forward to it as it is one of the most popular races of the year. I am also looking forward to competing in the GTD Pro Class again. Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta is a very nice circuit, it will be my first time there, but I know the track well from the SIM and studying onboard video and watching previous IMSA WeatherTech races there too. In the race, we will need to survive the first few hours, keep the car in one piece, have a good strategy and be on the lead lap with a few hours to go and from there push for the win. Our WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 should be very strong in sector one so we will need to make the best of it out there."
Maximilian Götz, Driver – No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Proton USA Mercedes-AMG GT3: "I have never raced Petit Le Mans, but every year I followed the race as a fan and supporter of Mercedes and my friends competing there. I am really looking forward to running the race this year. The track looks to be a traditional old school track, almost like the Nordschleife at the Nürburgring with its up and down and blind corners. It looks like it will take a lot of effort to drive. With all the prototypes and being in the slowest class it can be tricky with traffic, especially at night. I have been using my SIM to get some laps in to learn the corners and the general gearing of the track. Of course, I've watched some of the past races as well. The key will be to not make any mistakes on the track or in the pits. I have a lot of faith in the car and the team. In racing you also need some luck, especially at the end. We don't do much fuel saving racing in Europe, so we will need to be in a good position with strategy at the end."
Kris Wilson, Driver – No. 11 Capstone Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4: "Gary is obviously excited to get the Bronze Cup title and all we have to do is start the race and take that trophy for the year. But on the flipside, we also want to get our season-best overall finish. We have a new engineer for the weekend, so we are going to play around a little bit. We are already taking that next step for next year. Mercedes-AMG has been a great partner, and we want to do what we can for them because they do so much for us. Winning the Bronze Cup in a Mercedes-AMG GT4 is good but helping get the overall GS manufacturer championship for Mercedes-AMG would be awesome if we could get that done."
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