Another fightback delivers second consecutive Sebring win for Winward Racing

Thanks to Philip Ellis’ aggressive pass on Jack Hawksworth, Winward Racing left with not only its second GTD win at the 12 Hours of Sebring, but also the lead in the IMSA WeatherTech GTD Championship.

The likes of the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 and the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 gave Ellis and crew everything they could handle in the last few hours of the race, but the No. 57 Winward Mercedes-AMG GT3 wouldn’t be denied on the way to the reigning GTD Champions’ first win since Watkins Glen last year.

“It was a good battle, I think, with the Ferrari and the Lexus for the last two hours,” said Ellis. “It was very tough. But that’s what GT racing is, especially in IMSA. I think the drivers like it, I think the spectators like it, and I think that’s what we should keep doing a lot.

“Obviously there was some rubbing in there, but I think that’s part of good racing. Nothing was over the limit. I used whatever I had to use, and what they dished out as well. It was a good race, it was a hard race. But I’m happy to end up on top.”

Ellis ran second behind Hawksworth until, with less than 15 minutes left, Ellis nudged the Lexus at turn five, enough to disturb Hawksworth’s momentum and open a lane for the Mercedes to drive through.

“I wouldn’t be happy if I lost first place either, so I understand that he’s not super happy with it,” Ellis remarked of Hawksworth. “But to be honest, I just gave him back what he gave me a couple laps before in turn seven.

Ironically it was Hawksworth who was conjuring up some aggressive moves to cut past Daniel Juncadella and Daniel Serra last year in the closing minutes, to win the GTD PRO class for Vasser Sullivan.

“I have a lot of respect for him, he’s a great guy. But that’s how he races as well. You reap what you sow.”

Winward Racing has now made two comeback drives in two races this season that have tested their resolve. At Daytona they went as many as seven laps down after fixing a throttle linkage issue, then came back to finish fourth – and could have won if not for a penalty late in the race for breaching IMSA’s emergency service rules.

This time at Sebring they only had to fight back from a drive-through penalty for a pit work infraction in the second half of the race, wherein they lost only minimal time.

“I think when we got the penalty, we had quite a good lead as well to most of the cars. There was two cars that were close by that actually jumped us during that drive-through. And then it was just a full push at that point, trying to make up as much time as we could again, and pull back to where we were before then,” Ellis said about the fight-back.

“And then we were a bit lucky as well with one of the last full course cautions, because at that point, we were within half a (pit) cycle to some of the other cars, and that basically brought us back into the game.”

Ellis drove the Winward Mercedes-AMG into the lead to end the first hour of racing, and teammates Russell Ward and Indy Dontje helped keep the No. 57 team in position to win Sebring for the second year in a row.

Ward was, as usual, complimentary of the Winward Racing crew at the team’s Texas headquarters for preparing a car capable of handling the conditions that Sebring threw at them.

“The car really suits this track well – it’s good on tires, it’s good in the heat, it’s reliable. And if you keep it on the paved surfaces, you really got a good chance of winning the race. If you look at the three cars that were really in the mix at the end, none of us put a foot wrong.

“That’s really what it comes down to in these endurance races, is just consistency, and being there for the last two hours,” he said.

Ward and Ellis will look to extend Winward’s advantage in the GTD standings next month on the streets of Long Beach, California, where they will share the historic street circuit with the prototypes of the premiere GTP class.