3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Teams Set For Continental Tire Road Race Showcase

3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Teams Set For Continental Tire Road Race Showcase

Three Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams will be competing in this weekend’s Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America. This weekend’s race marks the ninth round of the 12-race IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and kicks off the final third of the 2017 GT Daytona (GTD) class season. The longest track on the IMSA tour at four miles in length, the Road America weekend features a two-hour and 40-minute IMSA WeatherTech Championship race that is scheduled to start at 1:35 CDT local time this Sunday, August 6.

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams competing with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 at Road America include Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports, SunEnergy1 Racing and Lone Star Racing team, which makes its first IMSA race start since debuting its Mercedes-AMG GT3 in May at Circuit of The Americas (COTA).

The No. 33 Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 is co-driven by two-time 2017 race winners Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen. The No. 33 team scored the first IMSA WeatherTech Championship victory for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the 12 Hours of Sebring in March and won at COTA the following month.

Keating, Bleekemolen and the No.33 team return to Road America as the two-time and defending GTD-class race winners, with Continental Tire Road Race Showcase victories last year and in 2015.

In addition to its pair of victories this season, the No. 33 Mercedes-AMG Team Riley entry finished third in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona and second on the streets of Long Beach in April.

The No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 is co-driven by Kenny Habul and Tristan Vautier. The first-year IMSA team joined the No. 33 on the podium in third place for each of the team’s victories at Sebring and COTA. Vautier also won the pole in the No. 75 at Sebring, the first qualifying pole position in IMSA competition for the Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Dan Knox and Mike Skeen co-drive the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 this weekend, with the team set to compete in the next three IMSA WeatherTech Championship races. The race at Road America will be followed by events at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) later this month and at Laguna Seca Raceway in September. Knox and Skeen co-drove the No. 80 to a 12th-place lead-lap finish in their debut at COTA.

Practice for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Continental Tire Road Race Showcase gets under way Friday, August 4, with a pair of one-hour sessions at 11:20 a.m. CDT and 4:10 pm. CDT.

Saturday, August 5, begins with a final one-hour practice at 8:55 a.m. CDT that sets the stage for GTD qualifying that afternoon at 12:35 p.m. CDT.

Race-day on Sunday, August 6, begins with a 20-minute warmup at 8:30 a.m. CDT with the featured Continental Tire Road Race Showcase going green later that day at 1:35 p.m. CDT.

Live television coverage of the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase will air on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) beginning at 2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday. International viewers can watch a live stream of the race on IMSA.tv.

Live race commentary on IMSA Radio is available on RadioLeMans.com, SiriusXM Radio and IMSA.com, which is also home to IMSA Live Timing and Scoring.

Ben Keating, Driver – No. 33 Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: “Road America is one of my favorite tracks in North America. It is the longest track we race on, and an old-school track with all types of characteristics. The Kink is one of the most iconic turns in the USA. The Carousel is one of those turns that each car takes slightly differently. Because the track is so long, there are lots of places where you need good power. To me, it is almost like a miniature Daytona in the way it requires top speed to do a quick lap. Jeroen and I have done extremely well at this track through the years, but the current rules, unfortunately, have the Mercedes-AMG GT3 down quite a bit on top speed compared to the other cars in the GTD class. The only good news is the possibility of rain. If it rains, then we have a fighting chance.”

Jeroen Bleekemolen, Driver – No. 33 Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: “Road America is my favorite track in America. It is such a cool place. I have already won five times there so maybe that also helps! To be fast you really have to be committed. All of the high-speed corners should be good for our Mercedes-AMG GT3, Turn 1, the Carousel and the Kink. Unfortunately, we have a small restrictor, which will make us slow on the straights, but Road America always surprises. It's a very long lap, and many times this race has been about who can make it to the end on fuel. I would love to win here again because I love this place so much. You can always gamble here to go long on fuel, and with luck it might work out.”

Tristan Vautier, Driver – No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “I really like Road America so for sure it will be fun! The circuit is amazing, lots of corners, and it is always hard to put a good lap together there, which I like because it makes it challenging. I think all of the sections are as important on the stop watch, but one of the most fun corners is Turn 1, because you arrive at it so fast. Road America is definitely among the top-five tracks on my favorite list. On paper, it is a track where we should struggle for top speed because of the straight line, but we will try to compensate in our Mercedes-AMG GT3 on the brakes and in the fast corners. All we can do is keep our heads down and push like hell to maximize everything we have.”

Dan Knox, Driver – No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “It will be interesting to run the Mercedes-AMG GT3 at Road America. The track definitely fits the strengths of the car, but there are a lot of other similar cars that will make this a very competitive event. The four races we are running this year are very similar to the select schedule we ran in 2016. Last year we were able to put together some solid results with minimal testing, but this year we have been able to prepare with more testing. We showed good speed at COTA and now need to back that up with solid race results. We haven’t been racing but have been working diligently to earn solid results in the next three events.”

Mike Skeen, Driver – No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “We learned a lot during our last race at Circuit of The Americas, which we were able to verify and explore with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 during a recent test at VIR. I think we are much more prepared, have a consistent platform for long runs and that the balance of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 itself makes it a good car for longer stints. I believe the knowledge we have now will help us transition from being quick in practice, to preparing a car that is good on race day. We have a great team assembled that will only get better as they work together more over the course of these next three races. It may seem like a lofty goal, but I want to be in the hunt for a podium finish!”


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