Ward: GTD Title Battle ‘In Our Hands’ After 36H Florida Sweep

Russell Ward believes Winward Racing has managed to take control in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GTD title battle after the Texas squad secured back-to-back class wins at Daytona and Sebring.

Ward, Indy Dontje and Philip Ellis steered the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to a class victory in Saturday’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Cadillac, narrowly beating Cetilar Racing.

In the process, the Houston-based team added to a January win at the Rolex 24 at Daytona to complete a clean sweep of class victories in the ’36 Hours of Florida.’

The victory has given Winward a sizeable early advantage in the GTD standings, collecting 725 points across the two events.

Cetilar Racing and Wright Motorsports climbed to second and third in the standings after their Sebring podiums, but the No. 47 Ferrari 296 GT3 and No. 120 Porsche 911 GT3 R are set to contest only the Michelin Endurance Cup rounds.

As a result, fourth-placed Conquest Racing is currently Winward’s nearest full season rival, 180 points down.

“I think now we’re with the car with the most to lose,” Ward said.

“We have such a big points lead on especially all of the full-season competitors. I mean, it’s just kind of in our hands to make sure we come out clean every race, capitalize on the most points we can.”

The No. 57 Mercedes-AMG started from the back of the grid during the 72nd running of the Florida endurance classic after Ellis’ times from qualifying were disallowed when it was determined that the car had non-permitted sensors installed during the session.

Despite the setback, Ward remained confident in the team’s capabilities to be able to fight forward through the pack and achieve a strong result.

“We knew we had the car for it,” he said.

“We just wanted to keep our heads clean. We started off the season in such a great form winning Daytona. Our goal really was just to get the maximum amount of points that we could out of this race.

“This track really suits this race car well. The Mercedes-AMG gives you a ton of confidence here. You need it at Sebring. A dangerous racetrack. A lot of chances to make a mistake.”

“Especially in this series, you need some luck to win it. It’s not all about outright pace.

“We’ve got some really, really smart guys on the pit stand making the calls. We capitalized on three yellows that got us up to the lead. We were in the lead by hour two.

“For the endurance races, doesn’t really matter where I start, in my opinion.

“It’s always nice to start at the front, show the performance of the car, the performance of the team. At the end of the day we’re here to win the race.”

Final Battle “Definitely Not Comfortable” for Ellis

Ellis took over the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG for the crucial final stint, which was interrupted by three cautions in the final 90 minutes.

During this stint, the Swiss racer came under pressure from Ferrari Hypercar driver Antonio Fuoco, who took the No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari to the finish.

Ellis revealed the pressure he faced during the closing stages of the race, also fighting the No. 120 Wright Porsche of Elliott Skeer in the darkness hours.

“Definitely not comfortable,” Ellis reflected.

“I was actually hoping for the safety car to come out when I saw the Corvette standing in turn three.

“Initially I battled with Elliott a lot as well in the Porsche in the restarts. He seemed to be fast as well.

“At that point we were trying to save fuel because we wouldn’t have made it to the end on green flag racing. It was actually tough to keep the pack behind you and save as much fuel as you can.

“That was a bit of a different ballgame compared to the last two restarts. I had the Ferrari behind me.

“Initially I thought I could pull a little bit of a gap on him, but probably the last ten laps or so in the race he was pulling back on me.

“A little bit nervous. I really didn’t know how much else he had. Maybe he could have gotten to me.

“We certainly saw that we were a bit weaker in certain corners compared to other cars, which makes it a little bit vulnerable when fighting.

“I think it helped with the GTPs coming through as well, opened up a bigger gap for me. I think it was a great fight with Elliott and Antonio. Happy I didn’t have to go too much side to side with them.”