Engel “Gave It Absolutely Everything” in GTD Pro Battle

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA

Maro Engel said he “gave it absolutely everything” to challenge Dan Harper for GTD Pro victory after losing out on a strategic call by Paul Miller Racing in the closing stages of the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Engel, in the 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, finished just 2.23 seconds behind the class-winning BMW M4 GT3 EVO following a frantic final stanza to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener.

The longtime Mercedes-AMG factory driver led into the final hour although an undercut strategy by the Paul Miller squad put Harper out ahead of Engel.

“It was just different strategies,” Engel told Sportscar365. “I gave it absolutely everything and left nothing on the table.

“That was it. I had no more.”

The runner-up finish for Engel and co-drivers Will Power, Chaz Mostert and team owner/driver Kenny Habul, came after several early setbacks, including two penalties for exceeding powertrain parameters and a pit lane infringement.

However, the six-hour-plus full course caution for fog overnight helped put the German-based squad back into contention.

“We always believed we could but the team did some awesome strategy calls and then obviously that last restart was pretty mad,” said Engel.

“We made a few mistakes there that I’m a little bit angry at myself for but I don’t know if it affected the end end result.

“It was on the last restart and I was battling and out-braking. It was wild and a few trips across the curbs. I got pushed wide a couple of times.

“There’s just a few things that I think I could have done better. But I don’t know if it would have affected the end result.”

Harper, who shared the class-winning BMW with Connor De Phillippi, Neil Verhagen and Max Hesse, credited the Mitchell Simmons-led crew for taking a “gamble” on strategy.

“We decided to go full push, I think it was my second-to-last stint,” explained Harper. “I came out a good bit behind the three leaders, which at that time was the Manthey car, one of the Corvettes and the Merc.

“We decided to get behind them, cut the stint short, to get enough fuel to get to the end and just hope there was no yellow where those guys would stop and get fresher tires.

“We took that gamble and it paid off. We got track position, which for us this weekend was really key.

“We struggled and have been behind those cars to get a move done. We always came close to getting done… We knew it was crucial to get that track position for the lats stint.

“The boys pulled it off.”

Despite only narrowly missing out on the win, Engel added that he was especially proud of Habul’s performance, as a FIA Bronze-rated driver, in a predominately all-pro class.

“Kenny did three-and-a-half hours against factory drivers and he fully held his ground,” said Engel. “Hats off to Kenny and thanks to the whole team. It’s still a great result even if it hurts coming close to the win.”

The result matched Habul’s career-best finish in the race, which came in the GTD class in 2021 when the U.S.-based Australian also finished second.

“To come back after not finishing the last four years, it’s great,” said Habul. “It’s disappointing to lose by two seconds.

“It’s disappointing in that regard but still happy for Will and Chaz. Maro did an incredible stint.

“I was really happy with my speed. It’s a good way to come back. We just have to try and go one better [next year].”

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John