Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Teams Persevere and Prepare at the Roar Before the Rolex 24 At Daytona 

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Teams Persevere and Prepare at the Roar Before the Rolex 24 At Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – Five Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams persevered through the annual Roar Before the 24 test event last weekend at Daytona International Speedway (DIS) in preparation for this weekend’s 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona. America’s premier day-long endurance race once again opens the annual IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season that this year will see Mercedes-AMG and its customer racing team partners defend last year’s clean sweep of all six championships awarded in the GT Daytona (GTD) class. Returning team Winward Racing also won the GTD class in the 2024 edition of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the team’s second success in the race after scoring a victory in its debut attempt in 2021.

The first order of business, however, will be implementing the IMSA mandated torque sensors introduced as a mandatory component beginning this season in IMSA’s GTD classes. Mercedes-AMG is the only manufacturer in a large GTD and GTD Pro field that has never had the opportunity to compete with the sensors, but progress was made at the Roar in what was Mercedes-AMG’s first experience in official international competition with the driveshaft-mounted torque-detecting componentry.

Successfully overcoming a software data transfer issue on the first day of the Roar, Winward and the four other competing Mercedes-AMG GT3 teams were able to maximize their on-track performance on Saturday and Sunday.

The Rolex 24 At Daytona begins this Thursday, with GTD and GTD Pro qualifying sessions running in succession beginning at 2:10 p.m. EST.
The 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona begins this Saturday, January 25th at 1:40 p.m. EST. An opening hour of live coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. EST on the flagship NBC network, which returns for a final two hours of coverage around the race finish Sunday, January 26th from Noon to 2 p.m. EST.

The balance of the race will be broadcast on the NBC family of networks, with USA taking over Saturday’s live coverage from 2:30 p.m. EST until 6:30 p.m. EST. The race can be seen in its entirety in live flag-to-flag coverage on NBC’s Peacock live streaming network.

Winward defends its Rolex 24 win and IMSA WeatherTech and IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup (IMEC) GTD championships with the returning full-season driver lineup of Russell Ward and AMG Performance Driver Philip Ellis. Indy Dontje is back as the third driver in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the five-race IMEC while AMG Performance Driver Lucas “Luggi” Auer joins the team for this weekend’s Rolex 24.

The No. 32 Korthoff Competition Motors No. 32 Mercedes-AMG GT3 joins Winward as a returning GTD full-season team in 2025. The year-long driving duo of Seth Lucas and Kenton Koch will be joined by a pair of AMG Performance Drivers for the IMEC rounds. Returning team driver Maximilian Götz contests the full IMEC championship in the No. 32 while Daniel Morad – a co-driver on the victorious Winward team in 2024 – joins Korthoff Competition for this year’s Rolex 24.

The third GTD entry at the Rolex 24 is returning IMEC campaigners Lone Star Racing. The trio of Dan Knox, Scott Andrews and Eric Filgueiras will contest the five endurance races with AMG Performance Driver Ralf Aron in the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the Daytona opener and his first Rolex 24 start.

A pair of one-off Rolex 24 entries in the GTD Pro class complete Mercedes-AMG Motorsport’s five-strong customer racing effort at Daytona. Team principal and driver Kenny Habul returns with the No. 75 Team 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 and will be joined by the AMG Performance Driver trio of Maro Engel, Jules Gounon and Mikaël Grenier. Engel and Gounon were part of the WeatherTech Racing GTD Pro winning team in 2023, and Engel also co-drove with Winward in GTD in 2021 for the first Rolex 24 At Daytona Mercedes-AMG victory.

Bartone Bros. Racing with Team GetSpeed runs the first North American race for the successful collaboration with debuting Rolex 24 driver Anthony Bartone co-driving the No. 69 Bartone Bros. Racing with Team GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 in GTD Pro. Bartone competes alongside his AMG Performance Driver teammates Maxime Martin, Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz. Recent AMG Performance Driver addition Martin will drive at Daytona in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the first time.

Stefan Wendl, Head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing: “As expected, the Roar weekend was very intensive. In the area of torque sensors, we had to solve a communication problem with individual control units at short notice. Compared to the manufacturers who started in the FIA WEC in 2024, we lack experience in dealing with the new sensors. As a result, I don’t initially see us as favorites despite our victory last year, but I have to say a big ‘thank you’ to all the people working on this project overnight in Germany and taking the load and developing new software. Also, the whole process here integrating our guys coming from HWA Germany to help the guys from HWA in the U.S in supporting our five customer teams has been great. And a special ‘thank you’ also to all our customer teams, which remained patient. It is difficult having minimal driving time due to the issues, which was not an easy one for all of us. However, as I can rely on the strengths of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and the professionalism of our teams, I am very confident.”

Philip Ellis, Driver – No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “We had a fantastic 2024 season with Winward Racing, and it will be difficult to top what we have achieved. As a team, we are approaching this very realistically, but also extremely motivated. Of course, the aim is to start with a win at Daytona and to defend the title. The fact that Indy, Russell and I are once again part of the line-up, supported this time by Luggi, is certainly an advantage as we have the same understanding and trust each other.”

Daniel Morad, Driver – No. 32 Korthoff Competition Motors Mercedes-AMG GT3: “Everyone has worked hard to get the new system up and running. It’s quite a change compared to what we’ve been driving so far, but the balance of the car is pretty good. Most of the teams have raced here in recent years, the tires are the same and the track feels very consistent, so it’s really just about getting the car’s performance on track in the race.”

Dan Knox, Driver – No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “The Lone Star Racing team has been working so hard to get the car ready. There was a lot waiting around that we’ve had with all the issues that have gone on with the torque sensors, but it was just good to get back in the car. In the last session Sunday, I got into a rhythm and had a chance to really understand the track and get around it. It’s really good and I’m looking forward to the race!”

Scott Andrews, Driver – No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “Obviously it’s really tough for us as a manufacturer going up against everyone who’s done the World Endurance Championship for the last year. They pretty much have a head start, so we have basically a year’s plus worth of learning to do in two days. It started off not so smooth sailing, but we got there in the end. It’s fortunate that Lone Star Racing prepared such a good car because by the time all the systems were working, everything on the car was in such a good window. We’re really happy with it and I’m really happy with that pace and the car is good on the long run. The ultimate pace is good for the car too, and all the drivers are really happy with it. By the time we were able to sort the issues out with the torque sensors and run the car as it’s intended to run, we were right there. We’re pretty happy and it’s a pleasure to be back. I’m really enjoying also just driving for Lone Star Racing, and especially now that we’ve got a year under our belt. Everything is just sort of flowing a bit better, the people are great and it’s just a pleasure to be with this group.”

Ralf Aron, Driver – No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “It is my first time racing in Daytona, and I can’t wait for it. It was super cool to see so many fans already during the Roar. The weather has been challenging so far, but the race week looks to be dry. Lone Star Racing has a very quick Mercedes-AMG GT3 and obviously the expectations are pretty high. It is important to approach the race step by step. We have to make sure that we are in a good position to fight for victory right to the end.”

Kenny Habul, Driver – No. 75 Team 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3: “Thanks to Mercedes-AMG, we made a big step Sunday. The car felt more like what we’re used to. Still a lot of work to do, but the car was pretty much in the window for me and was fun in the wet. We still have a lot to do just to figure out the power and spiking and different things, but we’ve come a long way from yesterday so I’m happy. We got all the superstars in the new car. We lead this race every year, and every year we come up short. I’m just hoping we stay out of trouble and the car stays together and we’re there at the end, but we have had more bad luck Daytona than we normally do, so we are hoping for that to change.”

Maro Engel, Driver – No. 75 Team 75 Express Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “The 24-hour race is an absolute highlight on the motorsport calendar. The atmosphere, the track layout, the field of drivers, the duels, the restarts – all of this is unique. I have a strong, competitive lineup at Team 75 Express. We did some very good groundwork at the Roar, first and foremost to gain valuable experience with the torque sensors. We will only see what the relative strength actually is in the race.”

Maxime Martin, Driver – No. 69 Bartone Bros. Racing with Team GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3: “It’s quite nice to be able to drive the Mercedes-AMG GT3 finally for the first time, and I am looking forward to the race. I already feel that the base and the pace of the car are really good. There is still a lot to do until the weekend, but even with the experience of Mercedes-AMG and team GetSpeed I am pretty sure that we will have a competitive package for the race. My biggest challenge is to adapt perfectly to the new environment, but I know Daytona well, which is certainly an advantage.”