Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Teams Winward Racing and Lone Star Racing Bring Early Season Momentum to the 74th Running of the 12 Hours of Sebring 

SEBRING, Florida – Already off to an early-season title defense after a successful and race-winning season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona in January, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams Winward Racing and Lone Star Racing bring that momentum to this weekend’s 74th running of the 12 Hours of Sebring where GTD championship leaders Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and Indy Dontje seek a GT Daytona (GTD) record third-straight 12 Hours of Sebring Victory in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. 

The Winward No. 57 team and drivers are the two-time and reigning IMSA GTD driver and team champions after securing their first North American motorsports titles the last two years. Both seasons, Ward, Ellis and Dontje captured the 12 Hour race wins, and a third straight victory Saturday would be a Sebring race record in the GTD class, which was introduced in 2014.

Winward’s bids for their third-straight Sebring and GTD titles was bolstered by their third Rolex 24 win in January. The No. 57 team also won the Rolex 24 in 2021 and 2024.

Including 32 points earned by Ellis and the No. 57 team by qualifying second for this year’s Rolex 24, the No. 57 team and drivers come to Sebring with a comfortable 46-point GTD championship lead over the nearest challengers, 382 – 336. The No. 57 team and drivers earned 350 points for the Rolex 24 race win. Mercedes-AMG has in turn built an early 27-point lead in the GTD manufacturer standings, 382 – 355, over the nearest challenger.

Yet another Winward Racing milestone at the Rolex 24 was the introduction of the team’s first two-car Mercedes-AMG GT3 entry. The No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Scott Noble, Jason Hart, Luca Stolz and Maxime Martin finished third in GTD-Pro in the team’s debut. Noble, Hart and Stolz return this weekend seeking more GTD-Pro success in the No. 48 team’s second and final scheduled IMSA race of the year. Noble and Hart shift focus after Sebring to a European racing program in a Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Lone Star Racing makes its third 12 Hours of Sebring start after securing a career-best IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup (IMEC) sixth place GTD finish at Daytona with team drivers Scott Andrews, Lin Hodenius, James Roe Jr. and Ralf Aron. Andrews, Roe and debuting Sebring driver Hodenius share the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 this weekend.

In IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge competition, a pair of Mercedes-AMG GT4 entries will contest Friday’s two-hour Sebring race. In the Daytona opener, the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Bryce Ward – Russell Ward’s father – and Daan Arrow secured third in the Grand Sport (GS) class after Arrow pulled off a last lap pass for the final podium finishing position. Ward and Arrow look for another podium finish in the No. 57 at Sebring.

The additional GS entry at Sebring is the No. 24 Murillo Racing P1 Motor Club Mercedes-AMG GT4 of the newlywed driving duo of Aurora Straus and Kenny Murillo. A winning Mercedes-AMG GT4 team in past seasons, Murillo Racing is back in partnership with the P1 Motor Club. The No. 24 drivers showed top-10 pace early in the Daytona race and persevered to a lead-lap finish.

Saturday’s 74th running of the 12 Hours of Sebring is scheduled to start at 10:10 a.m. EDT. The entire race –along with practice and qualifying – is available for viewing in a variety of television and livestream programming on NBCSN, NBC’s Peacock, IMSA TV and YouTube.

“You don’t really care what your pace is during the day much at Sebring. You want to have a good car the last two hours, which usually is very different in track temperature and even just track conditions. It usually gets super dirty, especially at the end, and then obviously keeping the car clean, having everything still attached, all the wheels straight, and just having no issues and no penalty left for the end. You’re just keeping a cool head, even if something happens early in the race. I mean, last year, we had a penalty with I think about four hours to go that initially took us out of the lead. Then you just have to stay calm and know that you can claw your way back if you have the right strategy. That’s what I think a lot of drivers like about Sebring, which is that it’s always possible. You just keep your head cool and aim for the last hour.”

Philip Ellis, Driver – No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3

“There are a couple of new things, like the Michelin tires, for example, which we still are learning about, and we’re driving different tire pressures than we do in Daytona. I’m happy to be back. I love Sebring and everything felt really good in testing here last month. I think it’s a really special track, and I have been coming here long enough that is also hallowed ground for me. I hope we can repeat our wins from last year and the year before to make it a threepeat. I am looking forward to that!”

Indy Dontje, Driver – No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3

“My favorite track in the United States is Sebring, so I love it. I love that it’s masculine, it’s manly, and you feel like you’re really racing a car. You’ve got to have all your tools working at the same time and be physically fit. I think it really tests everything about a driver, and now we’re going to do it with multiple classes, and for 12 hours. We had a fantastic Daytona, thanks to Winward and thanks to Mercedes-AMG for giving us a great car, and of course my coach Jason worked me into shape. Now, here we are, the car feels great, but here it’s going to be a lot more pressure on the Bronze drivers. You can’t really hide the Bronze in this race so to speak, like you can at Daytona. So, I feel like there’s a lot more pressure for me to show up and really put the pace forward that I think I’m capable of. I’m excited about it. I’m excited to show off my talents and my fitness program, and let’s see how it works out. I feel good about it. Over the last three years, I have driven the mid-engine GT3 cars and now the Mercedes-AMG, and by far, my heart rate – I keep track of my heart rate – is 20 beats less per minute in this car. So, it shows how well we settled into the car and how calming and how great it is for a gentleman driver. It’s just impressive, and it really soaks up the bumps well.”

Scott Noble, Driver – No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3

“I am really looking forward to the Sebring 12. I love Sebring, I come here all of the time, but this will be my first 12 Hour, and I’ve always looked at this race as one that I really, really wanted to do. The car felt really good in testing, and it felt really good at Daytona. I will be displeased with anything beyond at least a lead lap finish for us. From what we learned at the test, I think we’re going to have a great race.”

Jason Hart, Driver – No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3

“To be honest, on my first track walk at testing last month, I thought what kind of concrete are we driving on! So many holes in the concrete, all the lines, and it all looks pretty horrible! I thought, ‘wow! This is definitely going to be an experience,’ but I did my first laps and I really enjoy the track. It’s awesome, and it is pretty cool that it is an old airfield, which I didn’t know about until a few days before the test. Everybody told me it will be really bumpy, and it is really bumpy, but it was a bit easier than I thought it would be. All in all, quite positive and the testing was great, and it has all been pretty awesome. This is definitely one of the great races on the calendar. You want to compete and do well, and I think we have a great package. We still had to figure out some tiny bits and things, but from my standpoint, getting up to speed was quite nice. Still, some way to go, but this is a very technical track to do laps on and be quite quick at it. I am quite confident we will run well.”

Lin Hodenius, Driver – No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3

“I’m super excited. We are all looking forward to Sebring after coming off a strong Daytona. The team is in a good groove, we had a good test here and worked through our program. So, the plan is the exact same as Daytona, which is to have everyone just do their job and execute. No penalties, no issues, and with the great car and driver lineup that we have, we should be there at the end. Daytona is, of course, the main event, but coming here is arguably in some ways a tougher race because having a car last 12 hours around here is a pretty big ask. Everyone looks forward to this race, and I’m certainly looking forward to it.” 

James Roe Jr., Driver – No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3