Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams Regulator Racing, JMF Motorsports and CRP Racing combined to sweep the Pro and Pro-Am class race wins and secure three of the overall top four finishing positions in Sunday’s GT World Challenge America powered by AWS feature race at Circuit of The Americas (COTA). Jeff Burton and Philip Ellis scored the overall and Pro-Am class win in the No. 91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 while Mikael Grenier and Michai Stephens took Pro-class honors and an overall second-place finish in the No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Sunday’s victories were the second of the season for both Regulator and JMF after each scored a GT World Challenge America race win in last month’s season-opening race weekend at Sonoma Raceway.
The double winners were joined on the podium at COTA by the first-year driver pairing of Isaac Sherman and Jason Daskalos who co-drove the No. 27 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 to second in Pro-Am and fourth place overall.
All three podium teams overcame a mix of on-track incidents and in-race procedural penalties to achieve Sunday’s outstanding results. The overall race-winning No. 91 team handled a pair of penalties in each of the weekend’s 90-minute races and – for the second-straight race – benefitted from a yellow-flag safety car period.
After he and starting driver Burton climbed through from the back of the field, Ellis was fourth overall when the race was restarted or the final time with 29 minutes to go. He passed Daskalos for the Pro-Am lead and third overall in the uphill run into Turn 1 as the green flag flew and two laps later moved to second.
Meanwhile, the No. 34 was upfront and leading the Pro class and overall late in the race for the second straight day, with Stephens at the wheel on Sunday. With both the No. 34 and No. 91 Mercedes-AMG GT3s running comfortably one-two overall and leading their respective classes, the drivers raced competitively but with care as Ellis pulled off the overall winning pass with 15 minutes remaining. The No. 91 took the checkered flag 1.948 seconds ahead of the No. 34 as both Mercedes-AMG GT3 teams celebrated their second in-class race wins of the season.
The JMF No. 34 came close to pulling off a pair of race wins on the weekend, and Grenier actually took the checkered flag first overall and in Pro in Saturday’s opening race. Unfortunately, the No. 34 was assessed a less than two-second penalty for just missing the minimum pit stop time and the Pro-class competitor taking the checkered just behind the No. 34 was close enough to be awarded the victory.
First and second place finishes for the JMF, however, were solid results considering the team missed Friday’s second practice session and worked late into the evening repairing the front end on the No. 34 after a non-contact issue emerged during opening practice on the notoriously tough COTA race circuit.
The No. 27 required some repairs as well after getting caught up in a multi-car accident at the start of Saturday’s first race. The team finished the race, but the diligent CRP Racing team gave the car a proper repair job before Sunday that certainly played a role in the second-place Pro-Am finish.
In Saturday’s Pirelli GT4 America three-hour Lone Star Enduro, Texas-based Lone Star Racing battled for the Am-class lead for the majority of the race and crossed the finish line in fourth place.
On pace and frequently in the top three, team co-drivers Marc Austin and Jason Golan were in the hunt for the victory if not a podium showing only to lose valuable track position during a late caution period when competitors in front of the No. 22 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 didn’t circulate fast enough to catch the front of the field during a “wave around.” Austin was in fourth for the restart but had a line of other competitors in front of him and the Am top three and was more than 20 seconds removed from the class podium fight after the pedestrian wave around.
Next up for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams on the SRO America schedule is another full weekend of SRO America competition at Sebring International Raceway, May 16 – 18.
Jeff Burton, Driver – No. 91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “It’s all about seat time in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 for me. We’re spending a lot of time in the seat, that’s what’s happening, and every time I get a little time behind the wheel, I can actually find that I’m doing things a little bit better. A little bit better and a little bit easier. Of course, Philip is just amazing to watch and have him as my teacher. It’s really good, and COTA is on my top-five list of tracks. It’s really tough on cars, and that was one thing our recent test here was really good for, because we could figure out how hard the track is on the car. I mean, it’s bumpy as can be, there are curbs all over, and every turn has something that if you hit it you are going to ruin the car. It teaches you to be quick but careful.”
Philip Ellis, Driver – No. 91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “It is great to now have two wins this early in the season, but to be honest, Sunday was more luck than anything. Obviously, it is working out with our driver strategy, but the team reacted quickly after we had a miscue in the race. The safety car coming out was very lucky for us, and we had a late safety car at Sonoma that helped too, but either way, I think Jeff had another great race. Probably another one of his best weekends to date as we have seen him do this year. He was very consistent today and kept the car in position for a podium or even a win under green conditions. Another good result, and now we just have to repeat it.”
Mikael Grenier, Driver – No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: “Wins are very important, and that is what is needed. This championship is not going to be easy. There are only four cars running in the Pro class, and the other teams are also very good. It’s difficult to score strong points and just rely on consistency, so we will try to win as many races as possible. That’s where we get the biggest gap for points, because between second, third and fourth that is a big margin. We have to keep scoring points and that will get us to the end of the season.”
Michai Stephens, Driver – No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: “I am just exceptionally grateful for this incredible opportunity. It’s all a testament and a credit to the JMF Motorsports team. It’s wonderful that this weekend each element of this organization had an opportunity to shine and show their incredible commitment and ability. Mikael and I are the very fortunate ones that get to drive this Mercedes-AMG GT3 around and stand on top of the box on the podium, but we wouldn’t be there at all if it wasn’t for the men and women that stand behind us. This victory is certainly for them.”
Isaac Sherman, Driver – No. 27 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “You just need to have a never give up mentality. You never know what’s going to happen on the race track, so I just stay focused and give it my all. I am just super excited and happy that we came out with the result we did. This is my first year in a GT3 car and just my second race weekend. My first time ever in a GT3 car was two weeks before the season-opening Sonoma race, so I was a little nervous and had no idea where I was going to be. When we tested, I started getting comfortable, clicking some faster laps, and I was like ‘okay, we might do pretty well,’ and then I just needed to get comfortable with the team and the car. I think by the end of this year we’re going to be really, really competitive.”
Jason Daskalos, Driver – No. 27 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “For a new team stepping up to GT World Challenge, we are learning a lot. Honestly, I felt even on Saturday we were performing at a podium level, but unfortunately, we got hit at the start. It was nice to get that podium on Sunday and Isaac is doing an amazing job for his first time being in a GT3 car. The guy’s driving phenomenal so we’ll take this podium and move on to Sebring.”
