Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Team Winward Racing Extends GT Daytona (GTD) Championship Leads After Pole-Winning Performance at Road America
A convincing pole-winning performance by Russell Ward in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 on Saturday was the major factor in the Winward Racing team and drivers building their 2025 IMSA GT Daytona (GTD) championship leads despite a rough and tumble and largely frustrating race at Road America on Sunday. The top qualifying effort, which garnered 35 valuable championship points, was the fourth career and first pole of the season for Ward. The pole-winning effort returned the No. 57 team’s championship leads to more than 100 points with just three races remaining on the 2025 schedule.
Ward’s pole-winning time of 2:03.745 (117.764 mph) was the fastest qualifying lap among both the GTD and all-professional GTD Pro classes even though the GTD field starts behind their all-pro counterparts in IMSA races. Ward proved it was no fluke and led every lap of his starting driver stint in Sunday’s 2-hour and 40-minute race.
Ward’s teammate and race-closing driver Philip Ellis took the wheel of the No. 57 for just over the final 90 minutes of the race after the first of two outstanding pit stops by the Winward Racing crew in the race.
Ellis quickly cycled back to the lead after the first stop, but what looked like a chance to score the team’s third race win of the year fell apart in the race’s second half.
A string of questionable contact incidents involving Winward’s GTD competitors, multiple caution periods, and a penalty for incident responsibility that was hard to take, all combined to knock Winward from winning contention.
Despite the frustrations, Ellis persevered for a top-10 and lead-lap GTD finish to gain even more team and driver points, taking the checkered flag ahead of their closest championship rivals.
Arriving at Road America atop the GTD team and driver standings by 93 points, 1,902 – 1,809, Winward left Elkhart Lake with its first triple-digit championship leads since securing its class-leading second win of the year in Round 4 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in May.
The Winward team and drivers have now built their lead margin to 112 points, 2,147 – 2,035 over the closest competitors, while Mercedes-AMG continues to lead the GTD manufacturer championship with 2,361 points, 154 points clear of the nearest challenger.
The No. 57 topped the GTD division with the most laps led at Road America, pacing the field for 39 of the race’s 62 laps. Ward (23 laps) and Ellis (16 laps) were the only driver duo in GTD to both lead the race.
Next up for Winward Racing in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the year’s final sprint and only all-GTD race of the season at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR). The Michelin GT Challenge at VIR takes place August 22 – 24 on the 3.27-mile Southern Virginia road course.
