DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – Defending IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar GT Daytona (GTD) champions Winward Racing picked up right where they left off at the end of 2024’s season of domination with a front-row qualifying performance Thursday for this weekend’s 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona. With longtime Winward team member and AMG Performance Driver Philip Ellis at the wheel of the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, the reigning WeatherTech and IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup (IMEC) GTD champions nearly won the class pole position with a last-lap flyer as the checkered flag flew.
Following the team’s disciplined and competitively cautious approach that was a key part of last year’s championship-winning dominance, Ellis cruised at the lower end of the time charts early before a pair of late flying laps. The Winward No. 57 jumped from last to fifth of the 21 GTD cars on track with two and a half minutes remaining before Ellis mounted his biggest charge of the 15-minute session coming down to the checkered flag.
Ellis was on a pole-winning pace as he drove through the high-banked NASCAR Turns 3 and 4 section, but a move around a slower car just ahead was enough for the No. 57 come up just short on opening the 2025 season with a pole. Ellis secured P2 on the GTD grid with a lap time of 1:46.652 (120.166 mph), a scant 0.18 of a second behind the pole winner.
Ellis co-drives in the Rolex 24 with full-season teammate Russell Ward, returning team IMEC driver Indy Dontje and AMG Performance Driver Lucas Auer.
Winward and Ellis were the top qualifiers of the five Mercedes-AMG GT3 entries competing across the GTD and GTD Pro classes this weekend.
In the 15-car GTD Pro class, the No. 75 Team 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 was the fastest of the two competing Mercedes-AMG Motorsport entries. Two-time Rolex 24 At Daytona winner Maro Engel clocked in ninth-quickest in the No. 75 with a lap time of 1:46.613 (120.210 mph).
The No. 75 will start on the inside of Row 5 in the GTD Pro field, just ahead of the No. 69 Bartone Bros. Racing with Team GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3. AMG Performance Driver Luca Stolz qualified 11th in the No. 69, which will be the debut Rolex 24 At Daytona for both Bartone Bros. and Team GetSpeed.
Another debut this weekend comes from Dan Knox who runs in the Rolex 24 At Daytona in the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 that he owns and co-drives. Knox qualified the No. 80 Thursday 18th in the GTD class.
The No. 32 Korthoff Competition Motors Mercedes-AMG GT3, with team driver Maximilian Götz at the wheel, was credited with the third fastest GTD lap at the checkered flag but was moved to the back of the GTD field after IMSA invalidated the team’s top laps after they exceeded the new Controlled Powertrain Parameters in place for the first time this weekend.
The 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona begins this Saturday, January 25th at 1:40 p.m. EST. An opening hour of live coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. EST on the flagship NBC network, which returns for a final two hours of coverage around the race finish Sunday, January 26th from Noon to 2 p.m. EST.
The balance of the race will be broadcast on the NBC family of networks, with USA taking over Saturday’s live coverage from 2:30 p.m. EST until 6:30 p.m. EST. The race can be seen in its entirety in live flag-to-flag coverage on NBC’s Peacock live streaming network.
Philip Ellis, Driver – No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “Of course, it’s a good starting position, but it doesn’t mean much for the 24 hours. The main thing is that it’s nice to see that we have worked well, especially over the last week, seeing where we were then basically starting from scratch on a new system. Everybody stuck their heads together, especially here at this team, and also with other teams. These guys here have been working day and night. It’s a bit like last year. They make it easy for me. It’s been a really good car. We’re not quite where we want to be yet. We still have a lot of work to go before we get into the race and, of course, the rest of the season, but it’s a great starting position.”
Maro Engel, Driver – No. 75 Team 75 Express Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “Everyone is working very hard, and we know that the other manufacturers have had a year under their belt, but for us it’s the first race with the torque sensors. So, we’re still finding our way and trying to find the best balance and the best way forward with the torque sensors. A big thank you to everyone for their hard work, and we move forward trying to keep improving the car and hopefully in the race we’ll be there. Every lap is progress for us. We keep doing our thing and relying on the great expertise of Mercedes-AMG together with our 75 Express team. We keep working, keep chipping away and we have a strong team. We know we can rely on that, and we will just make sure we prepare as best as possible and try to have the fastest possible car.”
Luca Stolz, Driver – No. 69 Bartone Bros. Racing with Team GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3: “We have a good car. I have a lot of confidence in the GetSpeed team and my co-drivers. We have another practice Thursday night to fine tune for Saturday. Twenty-four hours is a long race, but I think we will have a good race car.”