Edited and Reviewed by Rex McAfee
Mercedes Benz to Victory Circle
The No. 79 WeatherTech Racing/Proton Competitors Mercedes-AMG GT3 group secured the primary IMSA GTD Professional class victory for a Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Buyer Racing group within the 61st Rolex 24 at Daytona Worldwide Speedway. The group’s drivers had been Cooper MacNeil, Jules Gounon, Daniel Juncadella and Maro Engel. The victory was the second within the final three years for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Buyer Racing. Engel began the WeatherTech/Proton No. 79 from the GTD Professional pole Saturday afternoon and 24 hours later was again behind the wheel of the white, crimson and blue Mercedes-AMG GT3 to take the checkered flag slightly below 4 seconds forward of the second-place finisher. The WeatherTech co-drivers mixed to steer a class-high 229 race laps over the 24 hours.
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GTD PRO Class
This weekend’s race was MacNeil’s thirteenth and remaining try at profitable the Rolex 24 in what was his remaining race in IMSA competitors. After a number of wins at Petit Le Mans and within the 12 Hours of Sebring, MacNeil steps away having lastly accomplished the victory cycle in IMSA’s three main endurance races. Engel earned his first Rolex 24 win in 2021 within the GTD class with Winward Racing that, for almost all of this weekend’s race, appeared in a robust place to attain one other victory. Staff drivers Russell Ward, Philip Ellis, Indy Dontje and Daniel Morad led a complete of 177 race laps and Ellis was because the wheel and locked in a detailed battle with the opposite GTD and GTD Professional leaders for the race’s remaining restart with lower than half-hour to go.
As the sector charged into flip one and the primary few corners of the three.56-mile street course’s quick infield part, Ellis got here along with a GTD Professional competitor and the contact ended what was trying like a storybook end for the No. 57 group. The group initially entered a fourth driver, Lucas Auer, was injured in an incident in Thursday’s opening Rolex 24 observe session. Auer had profitable surgical procedure on again accidents sustained within the incident at close by Halifax Well being Medical Heart on Friday on the similar time the Winward group took supply of a substitute Mercedes-AMG GT3 chassis, which was trailered in a single day to Daytona from the group race store in Texas.
GTD Class
The No. 32 Staff Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 group, and co-drivers Mike Skeen, Mikael Grenier, Kenton Koch and Maximilian Götz, led a GTD class-high 227 race laps, however a probably race-winning efficiency got here to a crushing finish midway into the 18th hour of the race at dawn on Sunday. A entrance wheel bearing defect despatched Grenier from the race result in the paddock, and the No. 32 group went greater than 10 laps down for repairs. The group rejoined the race and soldiered to an eventual fifteenth place end.
The No. 75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG GT3 inherited the GTD pole after Winward was compelled to the again of the beginning grid. Staff co-drivers Kenny Habul, Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller and Axcil Jefferies had been aggressive from the beginning of the race solely to be sidelined at 9 p.m. Saturday with radiator injury. The No. 75 was formally retired early Sunday morning.
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Mercedes-AMG Delighted
Stefan Wendl, Head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Buyer Racing: “What a unbelievable race! For our model, to win the GTD Professional class right here for our second Rolex 24 victory is a tremendous success. Alternatively, we even have a teary eye due to our different buyer groups. Winward Racing put in a unbelievable efficiency to combat their method from the again of the sector to the entrance, solely to be taken out of the race by an unlucky incident within the remaining hour. Many because of all of our buyer groups and congratulations to Acura for the general win.”
Subsequent up for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Buyer Racing groups within the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the 12 Hours of Sebring at Sebring Worldwide Raceway, March 16 – 19.
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