Winward to Continue in 2027 With Unchanged Lineup

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA

Winward Racing will continue for a sixth consecutive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with the unchanged full season lineup of Philip Ellis and Russell Ward.

Announced by IMSA on Wednesday, the two-time and defending GTD class champions have been locked in for another year with its Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

“We haven’t started the 2027 prep, but the 2027 prep will start the day that we get back,” said team owner/driver Ward.

The Texas-based operation, which leads the class points standings entering next weekend’s season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans, has a total of 15 WeatherTech Championship wins to its credit, all with Ellis and Ward as drivers.

It has a class-high four wins alone this year, including the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

“I think 2026 has been one of our best years,” said Ward. “We’ve had some bad luck at the start of the season with Sebring and Watkins Glen.

“To be honest, I think it would not be out of the realm to say that if we hadn’t have had those issues, we’d be another 200 points ahead.

“A top-five finish in both of those rounds was definitely possible.

“That would put us in, you know, basically the same form that we had in 2024 and 2025. It’s going to come down to Petit Le Mans. It’s definitely one of the more exciting seasons that we’ve had with Winward Racing.”

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