Mercedes-AMG Rides Hot Hand to Advance Auto Parts Sportscar Showdown

Just three races into its first season of IMSA competition, Mercedes-AMG is already making its mark on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

In November 2016, the German manufacturer announced its intention to enter IMSA’s GT Daytona (GTD) class with a three-car campaign featuring the Mercedes-AMG GT3. The daring move meant Mercedes was joining the ranks of one of the most diverse classes of North American sports car racing, with no less than seven other manufacturers competing on a full-time basis.

Yet just three races in, Mercedes-AMG has established itself the one to beat in GTD. After only one of the three cars finished in the top 10 at the Rolex 24 At Daytona – a third-place finish by the No. 33 Riley Motorsports-Team AMG machine – Mercedes came out swinging at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida.

Tristan Vautier kicked off the weekend with the manufacturer’s first pole position in the class aboard the No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, while Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Mario Farnbacher guided their No. 33 Mercedes to victory lane with relative ease. The team crossed the finish line one lap ahead of second place, and Bleekemolen also recorded the class’s fastest lap of the day.

The only team missing from the mix was the No. 50 Riley Motorsports-WeatherTech Racing car, which didn’t stay dormant for long. After a pair of incidents at Daytona and Sebring spoiled the start to their season, Cooper MacNeil and Gunnar Jeannette piloted the No. 50 Mercedes-AMG GT3 to a win at the BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix of Long Beach. Additionally, Vautier in the No. 75 posted the fastest GTD race lap.

"The quick start was a really great motivation for the whole team at Mercedes-AMG,” said Stefan Wendl, GT3 Project Manager, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing. “It also shows that the development of our Mercedes-AMG GT3 race car is second to none.

“With the delivery of their cars, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing started a very close collaboration with all three full-season customer teams. Even prior to the 2017 season’s start, all teams went testing at several IMSA tracks with Mercedes-AMG customer support on site.”

Heading into Circuit of The Americas (COTA) this week for Saturday’s Advance Auto Parts Sportscar Showdown, the teams show no sign of backing down.

The No. 33 will be one to watch particularly, with Keating, a Victoria, Texas native, and co-driver Bleekemolen behind the wheel. Keating has three wins at COTA, the most of any WeatherTech Championship driver, and Bleekemolen was with him for two of those victories. The No. 50 WeatherTech Mercedes has momentum as well coming off its win at Long Beach and the No. 75 is sure to show its speed again, as it has early in the season.

“As in every series Mercedes-AMG Motorsport competes, our goal is to win,” Wendl said. “The very early success we had in the first races has given us the lead in the driver, team and manufacturer championships, and that is what makes us really proud. But the title fight is still too early at this stage of the season. There is still a hard and long way to go, and the competition in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is very tough.”