Ellis: Second Straight GTD Title “A Little Bit More Special”

Philip Ellis described Winward Racing’s second consecutive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD title as “a little bit more special” as the Swiss racer believes the introduction of torque sensors to the class made for a tighter championship battle compared to last year.

Ellis and Russell Ward successfully defended their championship with the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, beating Kenton Koch and Casper Stevenson to the title thanks in part to three class victories.

Together with Indy Dontje, the full season Winward pairing triumphed at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March before adding two further victories at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Virginia International Raceway.

“It feels amazing,” Ellis told Sportscar365. “I think the first one was special. This one is a little bit more special.

“It was a lot tougher. The entire season, everything was a bit closer. We had our ups and downs as well throughout the season.

“It’s even better and more satisfying this time to win it. Unfortunately, not in the style we wanted to but we’ll take it anyway and we’ll go for the hat-trick next year.”

Ellis identified the introduction of torque sensors, new to the GTD class this year, as a significant factor in the category this year as it “brought everyone close together.”

“I think the biggest difference to be honest was the torque sensors that brought everybody close together,” he said.

“It felt like all the cars were close together throughout the year. For sure you had some races where one or two brands were a little bit off and maybe a little bit fast but not as extreme as we saw it in recent years.

“I think that was a good change and then honestly I just think the entire paddock made a step up so it was really hard to stay on top.

“You had a couple of cars that were able to win races and it was good for the championship.

“The strength of the field, I think, is amazing. Especially in GTD, you have so many cars that can win. It’s also the biggest field in the entire [series].

“So not only that, but then also to have the new rules come in, new tires come in, torque sensor come in, and then Winward stepping it up and backing it up from last year as well and just being the best team in the paddock is amazing.”