#4 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4, GS: Russell Ward, Indy Dontje

Riley Motorsports and Winward Racing Top-Finishing Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Teams in IMSA Race Weekend at Sebring International Raceway

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams secured a pair of fourth place IMSA race finishes this weekend in WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge series competition at Sebring International Raceway. The No. 74 Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3, co-driven by Gar Robinson and Lawson Aschenbach, closed in on the third-place competitor when the checkered flag flew in Saturday’s WeatherTech Championship race. In Friday’s Michelin Pilot Challenge race, a thunderstorm ended the race 15 minutes early and took away a likely charge to a podium finish by Russell Ward and Indy Dontje in the No. 4 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4.


Saturday’s fourth-place result in the two-hour, 40-minute WeatherTech race was the best of the season for the No. 74 team and began with Robinson’s strong opening stint. Starting sixth on the grid, Robinson moved to fifth at the race start and then joined the rest of the GTD field in an early pit stop under caution.

Quick work by the Riley Motorsports crew put Robinson back in the race in third and he battled in the lead pack throughout his more than one-hour stint. After briefly dropping to fourth, Robinson regained third by the time he pitted to hand over to Aschenbach 67 minutes into the race.

 

Another top stop by the Riley team kept Aschenbach in the top four and in close formation with the other race leaders. Pitting for the final time with little under an hour remaining, Aschenbach was steadily gaining on the third-place competitor in the race’s final 30 minutes but ultimately ran out of time to make a move before the checkered flag.

Friday’s two-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge race also saw a late podium charge cut short when a rainstorm interrupted the event for the second and final time. After a lengthy delay for rain and lightening just 11 minutes into the race, the second thunderstorm 15 minutes from the finish forced race officials to throw the checkered flag early.

Indy Dontje was at the wheel of the No. 4 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 and rapidly closing on the top-three competitors when the race was called.

Dontje’s run to the front came after he and starting co-driver Russell Ward spent the majority of the race recovering from a lap one incident.

  

Starting the race fourth, Ward battled with the No. 35 Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Jim Cox, who rolled off from the fifth starting spot, from the drop of the green flag. Cox edged by Ward as the field charged into turn one only to see the two competitors come together two corners later.


Both Ward and Cox were able to continue but not before the majority of the field passed while their cars were momentarily stopped at turn three.
From there, both teams focused on rebounding from the incident for the rest of the race.


Ward picked up several positions on the track while a fast pit stop by the Winward crew for the driver change to Dontje at the halfway point put the No. 4 back in the race in the top five. Dontje continued the charge back to the front in the final stages of the race but settled for fourth when the race ended early.

After falling to 23rd place, Cox picked up several positions before handing the No. 35 over to co-driver Dylan Murry for the run to the finish. Murry began a charge of his own through the field, setting the fastest Grand Sports (GS) class race lap while climbing back into the top-10 for a ninth-place finish.

 

The No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Jeff Mosing and Eric Foss made it three Mercedes-AMG GT4 teams in the top-10. After running as high as third during Mosing’s race-opening stint, Foss was in sixth place and ready to make a move of his own when the race was stopped. The sixth place Sebring result made up for a Daytona opener that saw the No. 56 battle in the lead pack throughout the race, only to drop from contention near the end.

Next up for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing team in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge is the Road America race weekend in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, July 31 – August 2.

Lawson Aschenbach, Driver – No. 74 Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: “I think Gar absolutely had his best drive in a GT3 car Saturday. He was right there with everybody, didn’t lose a position and even gained a couple in the beginning. He was fast, consistent and kept the car clean. That’s the number one priority at the beginning of the race, and he knocked it out of the park. He started sixth and pitted for our driver change from third. I am really proud of him and he just keeps getting better and better. The track conditions were actually quite different for the race than we had all weekend. We had a much better long-run car than short run, and at the end there with a couple more laps I think we could have got on the podium. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 is very consistent, particularly at a track like Sebring that is very difficult on a car and the driver. I was really pleased with the performance of the car, and hopefully we can make it three finishing positions more in the next race at Road America.”

  

Russell Ward, Driver – No. 4 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: “I am proud of everyone on the team and really want to thank the pit crew. We gained two positions in pit lane which was just critical to where we finished. The Mercedes-AMG GT4 was great, especially in the tricky conditions. I think that’s where I gained a lot of my time. It was a little difficult to pass in the dry, but when things started to get a little bit hairy, I think some of the competition checked up and were a little bit cautious. I was comfortable in the car in the wet. The team gave us a good car, it’s a little bit of a shame to finish where we started, but it was a good first week back. We are in the championship battle after two races, so a good start. It also feels good to be the top finishing Mercedes-AMG, but I had to push one out of the way to do it. Sebring is always tricky at the start, particularly from the outside. I started fourth and one spot ahead of Jim in the No. 35, who had a better run than me through turn one. A couple of corners later I saw a gap and felt a window was there. I stuck it up the inside and I think it was really a 50/50 mistake on both of our parts. I don’t think he was expecting me to be there, but there was room, and I had all four wheels on the pavement. It’s just really unfortunate, particularly to collide with another Mercedes-AMG GT4. It’s just no good, but there were no penalties for either of us, so I think race control thought it was a racing incident as well. But looking back, I probably would have given it up to him and I think I had the pace to get him somewhere else. That’s just the way it goes sometimes, but I am sure he is not happy.”

  

Indy Dontje, Driver – No. 4 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: “It was a pretty solid race. We had a little contact in the beginning of the race, but Russell fought his way back strongly. The thunderstorm delay gave us kind of a break, but he did a really good job to bring the car back to around eighth before our driver-change pit stop. The team did a mega job on the stop and we gained even more positions. I was in the top five, and as soon as my Michelin tires warmed up, I was able to take fourth. We were chasing the front, but another storm came and ended the race early. It’s really a shame because we were quick, and it was possible to maybe fight for the podium. In the end, we finished fourth, good points for the championship, and I am really proud of the team.”

Dylan Murry, Driver – No. 35 Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4: “This weekend didn’t go how we planned but we definitely showed our speed. With the fastest race lap, Riley Motorsports proved that they know how to setup our Mercedes-AMG GT4 on any track anywhere and be the fastest car on track. So, it was definitely a plus in that regard to show our speed, and we are only six points from the championship leader in the points race, so we are not too far behind. Jim did absolutely phenomenal in qualifying, but at the start of the race there was an unfortunate racing incident going into turn three. This is racing. It’s something that is going to happen to anybody and everybody. At that point, we just looked forward, not back, and put our heads down and climbed back from 23rd place. I told Jim there is A factors that we control and B factors that we can’t control, and this was a B factor. We just focused on our A game and did the best we could do to make up as much ground as we possibly could.”