Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Teams Lead IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car GT Daytona (GTD) Championship and Second in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Grand Sport (GS) Point Standings Heading into this Weekend’s FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park

Three Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams across a pair of IMSA racing series lead or are in close contention for several championships in both the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge heading into this weekend’s FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park, July 15 – 16. Team Korthoff Motorsports, Murillo Racing and Capstone Motorsports lead or rank no lower than second in their respective driver and team championships coming to Lime Rock that hosts the only same-day doubleheader event on the 2022 IMSA schedule this Saturday, July 16. Competition begins with the two-hour Pilot Challenge race at 11:05 a.m. EDT that sets the stage for the featured two-hour and 40-minute IMSA WeatherTech Championship FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix Saturday afternoon at 3:10 p.m. EDT.

Both Saturday races launch a critical four-race stretch run to decide the 2022 IMSA championships, and Mercedes-AMG Motorsport customers teams have been in the thick of numerous title battles all season.

Team Korthoff Motorsports continues to be the breakout story of the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech Championship season with the No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 and full-season co-drivers Stevan McAleer and Mike Skeen. With 1,765 points, McAleer and the Korthoff No. 32 bring a five-point lead in the WeatherTech GTD driver and team championship standings to Lime Rock.

Team Korthoff took the points lead after opening the season with back-to-back podium finishes at the Rolex 24 At Daytona (third) and the 12 Hours of Sebring (second) in what is the team’s and McAleer’s first full season of IMSA GTD competition.

In addition to being on the pace at every race – McAleer won the team’s first pole one race ago in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen – the Korthoff team and drivers have demonstrated no-quit resiliency time and time again this season.
Losing the points lead briefly after the year’s third race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca – where Skeen was unable to participate due to a COVID-19 diagnosis – the No. 32 team and McAleer reclaimed the top spot in the championship one race later with a fifth-place finish at the Detroit Grand Prix.

Even Team Korthoff’s first major incident of the year at The Glen didn’t slow their momentum or knock them out of the championship lead. Korthoff’s endurance race driver Dirk Müller – who also filled in for Skeen at Laguna Seca – was uninjured in a contact incident halfway through the six-hour race. The repairs needed to get the No. 32 back on track resulted in an eventual 10th place finish, but Team Korthoff and McAleer still bring the championship leads to Lime Rock.
In Pilot Challenge competition, Murillo Racing and Capstone Motorsports bring championship momentum fueled by race wins to Lime Rock. The teams combined for a double victory and top-two overall podium sweep in a dominating performance by the Mercedes-AMG GT4 two weeks ago at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP).

The big winner recently has been the No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 that was driven to the overall and GS victory at Lime Rock last year by Jeff Mosing and Eric Foss. Mosing has been sidelined most of this season by a rib injury sustained in a boating incident three months ago, but Foss has carried on his and the team’s championship hopes by co-driving the No. 56 to victories in two of the last three races. Foss and the No. 56 are the only driver and team to score a repeat Pilot Challenge GS race win this season.

At Mid-Ohio, Foss co-drove with Mosing replacement driver Kenton Koch for the victory. One race ago at CTMP, Marc Miller stepped in for Mosing and helped Foss and the No. 56 squad secure their second victory of the season. Koch returns to the No. 56 this weekend for at least Saturday’s race and the next round at Road America in Wisconsin in early August.
The victories and no finish lower than eighth all year have Foss and the No. 56 team second in the standings and closing on the leaders. They narrowed the gap to the leaders from 140 points to 90 points with the CTMP win, 1,780 to 1690.
Foss took the checkered flag in Canada .338 of a second ahead of their teammates Kenny Murillo and Christian Szymczak who finished second in the No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4.

The one-two overall and GS class sweep capped a weekend of domination for Murillo Racing and the Mercedes-AMG GT4 in Canada. Kenny Murillo won his first career pole on Friday in qualifying in the No. 72 and joined Szymczak in securing their second straight podium finish of the season. One weekend prior at The Glen, the No. 72 duo finished third for their first IMSA podium together. The recent surge has moved the No. 72 team and drivers to third in the GS championship standings with 1,420 points.

The Pilot Challenge GS Bronze Cup division has seen the Mercedes-AMG GT4 go undefeated this season in the new class that lets sportsman or “am” drivers compete against each other. The Bronze Cup victory at CTMP was secured for the fifth time in the six Pilot Challenge races to date this season by class point leaders Gary Ferrera and Kris Wilson who finished 13th overall in the No. 11 Capstone Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4.

Capstone’s only loss this season was delivered by the No. 65 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 co-driven by Tim Probert and Jeff Mosing’s brother Brent Mosing. The No. 65 team and drivers won at Mid-Ohio and appeared on track for another victory in Canada before a misfire issue took the team and drivers out of the race while Probert – on his 71st birthday – was running a career-best fifth after qualifying in the same position.

Another competitive part of the five-strong Mercedes-AMG GT4 entry at Lime Rock Park is the No. 55 FCP Euro by Ricca Autosport co-driven by Skeen and Trevor Andrusko. Skeen pulls double duty this weekend in both the Team Korthoff No. 32 and the Ricca Autosport No. 55, which carries the colors of event title sponsor FCP Euro. The team is set for its third race of a limited 2022 race schedule and arrives for its home event fresh off a top-five finish last month at The Glen.
Winward Racing and WeatherTech Racing Proton USA join Korthoff in Saturday’s FCP Euro Northeast Grand WeatherTech Championship race after a pair of strong runs in Canada.

Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 finally shook off a year of frustrations with a season-best finish of second at CTMP. The No. 57 team and drivers are determined to build on the podium success at Lime Rock where Ellis will be visiting a track for the first time for the third consecutive race.

Cooper MacNeil and Daniel Juncadella were primed for a similar podium finish in the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Proton USA Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GTD Pro class in Canada only to see their strategy foiled by a late-race caution period. The No. 79 team still secured a fourth-place finish and look to reach the podium this weekend at Lime Rock where the entry has been moved to the GTD division and Jules Gounon will make his Lime Rock debut co-driving with MacNeil.

Two WeatherTech Championship practice sessions take place Friday at Lime Rock before GTD and GTP Pro qualifying that afternoon at 5:40 p.m. EDT. Saturday's two-hour and 40-minute race is available live starting at 3 p.m. EDT Saturday on NBC's online streaming service Peacock and IMSA Radio. Same-day television coverage begins on the USA Network at 5 p.m. EDT Saturday.

Stevan McAleer, Driver – No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: “Looking forward to Lime Rock. One of my favorites on the schedule but it will be super tight and all about track position. Pit stops will be more important than fast laps, so lots of practice for the crew and drivers in the pits which will inevitably win this race. We get closer and closer to a win each weekend, so it would be nice to get it at my home track.”

Philip Ellis, Driver – No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “So far, the new tracks have been quite kind to me, netting some good results and always being on pace. It's a nice challenge to have on top of competing in IMSA in GTD for our first year with Winward too. I would say we’re doing pretty well. All we miss is a little luck to have the results reflect that performance, but that is starting to change. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 is a good all-arounder, so everywhere we go we're pretty competitive. At our best I expect us to be fighting for our next podium finish this weekend.”

Cooper MacNeil, Driver – No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Proton USA Mercedes-AMG GT3: “Lime Rock is the ‘Bull Ring’ of the IMSA WeatherTech schedule. With around a 50 second lap time, you really have no time to take a break. The fast lap also means there is no room for error on the track or on pit road. If you make one small mistake, you’re going down a lap. We are hopeful that the tight layout and fact that there are six right hand turns will suit our WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.”

Jules Gounon, Driver – No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Proton USA Mercedes-AMG GT3: “I’ve never raced at Lime Rock before, but I am looking forward to driving at this short and fast circuit. To be honest, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 is an amazing car performing at every track, so I have high hopes for a good result. I will be looking to Cooper to give me some good advice, I am sure he will, then we can work together to get the pace out of the WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. On the SIM, I really like the flow of the circuit and especially the last downhill section. I am really happy to be back with Cooper and the iconic WeatherTech Mercedes-AMG GT3 team. I hope we can deliver a good result and I am looking forward to bringing back some silverware to Europe.”

Eric Foss – No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: “I am really looking forward to driving our Mercedes-AMG GT4 in the next event in the series, which is this weekend at Lime Rock. We won the Lime Rock race last year and the cars have always been pretty strong there. Hopefully we can bring home a decent result and keep working on that championship. The Mercedes-AMG GT4 is a great car to work with, very intuitive, it does everything so well and always comes together as a really good package. It’s just one of those cars that you can really take anywhere and know it will work well. We keep getting decent results because of that.”

# # #

Further information from Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-AMG and Mercedes- Benz USA is available on the Internet: www.media.daimler.com, www.mercedes-benz.com and www.mbusa.com.

For more information on AMG Customer Sports, please visit www.mercedes-amg.com/customerracing.