Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Entries Secure Double Podium and Take Points Lead in GTD Driver and Team Championships in 70th Running of 12 Hours of Sebring; Bronze Cup Victory in Thursday’s Michelin Pilot Challenge Race

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams secured a pair of podium finishes in Saturday's 70th running of the 12 Hours of Sebring IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Sebring International Raceway. The No. 97 Proton USA Mercedes-AMG GT3 team and co-drivers Cooper MacNeil, Maro Engel and Jules Gounon finished third in the GT Daytona (GTD) Pro division while Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports (GKM) took the GTD team and driver championship points lead with a second-place finish in that class in the No. 32 Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 with team drivers Mike Skeen, Stevan McAleer and Daniel Juncadella.

The double podium capped a strong performance by all four Mercedes- AMG GT3 teams that competed in the milestone edition of America's oldest major sports car race. Along with Proton and GKM, Alegra Motorsports and Winward Racing were among the pacesetters and race leaders in both GTD classes. The four Mercedes-AMG customer teams combined to lead 137 race laps, including 17 tours pacing the GTD Pro field for the No. 97 and two stints for a combined 25 laps at the front of the GT field for the No. 32.

The runner-up showing was the second-straight podium finish in just the sixth IMSA race and 12 Hours of Sebring debut for GKM, which has become the breakout story of the WeatherTech Championship's two-race old 2022 season. The No. 32 team finished third in January's season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona – its first attempt at a 24-hour race – and now has an unmatched GTD podium sweep in the year's all-important opening rounds.

The stellar performance has given GKM the points lead in both the GTD driver and team championship standings. Provisional IMSA results issued after the Sebring race show full-season GKM drivers Skeen and McAleer and the team first in both standings with 672 points, 53 ahead of the nearest challengers.

The strong results have also moved Mercedes-AMG into early-season contention in the GTD manufacturer championship, just one point out of first place after the Daytona and Sebring rounds.

Shaking off a pit stop procedure penalty early in the race's second hour, GKM's Sebring race was another relatively mistake-free performance similar to Daytona. The No. 32 seldom ran out of the top five in the final 10 hours while also keeping an eye on fuel consumption in a fast race that saw the overall winner set a new laps-completed record.

In his first race with GKM and Sebring debut, closing driver Juncadella moved into second and was able to maintain a competitive pace despite racing for just over an hour on the No. 32's final tank of fuel. Juncadella crossed the finish line just under 50 seconds behind the GTD winner after 12 hours of racing.

The No. 97's podium – the first for Mercedes-AMG in just the second ever GTD Pro race – capped one of the most remarkable rebound and recovery stories of the race. After a handful of laps in Thursday's opening practice session, the No. 97 spent the rest of the day and night in the paddock where the team worked around the clock to repair a mechanical issue.

The No. 97 team took the green flag for the 12-hour race after just a handful of practice and qualifying laps the previous two days. Starting driver MacNeil kept in touch and on pace with the class leaders throughout his opening stints before handing off to Engel and Gounon.

Gounon led for the first time just past the five-hour mark, and from that point on the No. 97 team and drivers were in a battle for the podium for the next seven hours. Gounon was back at the wheel for the closing stint and in fourth place with just minutes remaining. He was on the bumper of and about to make a move on the third-place competitor less than two laps from the finish when the car in front slowed and Gounon passed to seal the hard-earned final podium spot.

Alegra and Winward both made it to the 12-hour race finish, but strong runs for both teams were derailed by technical issues forcing lengthy repairs in the paddock.

Alegra's 68 laps led were more than all but one competitor in GTD, but the team lost a chance to battle for the win when driver Daniel Morad was instructed to bring the No. 28 to the paddock while running third with less than 90 minutes remaining. Relatively quick repairs put the team back in the race for an eventual ninth place finish for Morad and co-drivers Michael de Quesada and Maximilian Götz.

Winward also appeared set for a podium run only to be forced to the pits and eventually the paddock for repairs early in the second half of the race. The team rejoined the race several laps down, but co-drivers Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and Marvin Dienst persevered to the checkered flag and a 12th place finish.

Nine total Mercedes-AMG Motorsport customer teams competed at Sebring, including five Mercedes-AMG GT4 entries in the Grand Sport (GS) class in Thursday's two-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race.

Both the No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 and the No. 11 Capstone Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT4 teams secured top-10 finishes and a class victory for the second straight race.

Gary Ferrera and Kris Wilson earned not only an eighth-place overall finish in the Capstone No. 11 but also the Bronze Cup victory for the second time in as many races. Ferrera and Wilson also won January's season-opening Pilot Challenge race at Daytona, which marked the debut of the Bronze Cup, a new championship within the overall 10-race GS schedule for Bronze-rated drivers, which most commonly designates sportsman or "Am" competitors.

Murillo Racing drivers Jeff Mosing and Eric Foss finished fourth overall in GS and battled for the victory and a top-three finish in the Murillo No. 56 until the checkered flag flew.

Pulling double duty on the weekend, Skeen co-drove with debuting GS driver Trevor Andrusko in the first race for the No. 55 FCP Euro Mercedes- AMG GT4 team since last October at VIRginia International Raceway. Andrusko qualified eighth and joined Skeen in co-driving to a 14th place GS finish.

Next up for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing competitors in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is a 100-minute sprint race at the Grand Prix of Long Beach in Long Beach, California, April 8 – 9. The IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series returns to action at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, April 29 – May 1.

Cooper MacNeil, Driver – No. 97 Proton USA Mercedes-AMG GT3: "Third place in GTD Pro is not bad for no practice time, especially at the 12 Hours of Sebring. It's a difficult race to compete in and get on the podium, especially in GTD Pro class where the competition level is so high. I am super proud to get back to the podium at Sebring, and with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 it's even better. We are super happy to get it done."

Maro Engel, Driver – No. 97 Proton USA Mercedes-AMG GT3: "It's amazing to finish off this weekend with a podium. It's a great reward for all the guys on the team. They worked so hard. Thursday was a really tough day, but we bounced back strongly, and that's what counts. Really hot race, it was hot in the car, but we battled hard to get on the podium. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 is great here, and it's a credit to the car that without that valuable practice on Thursday that we could turn out a car that is so competitive. Who knows, with a bit more practice maybe we can get that win!"

Stevan McAleer, Driver – No. 32 Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: "We are suddenly leading the points right now, but this is my first year driving a GT3 car. A big surprise, but Mike and Dani were fantastic, and the team is over the moon. You can see in their eyes how much this meant to them. We threw a lot of setup changes at the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and in all honesty it just got better and better. Now we move on to sprint races, Mike and I will run around and see what we can do ourselves, and I am super excited. We are certainly in a points fight right now, and we are the ones being chased."

Mike Skeen, Driver – No. 32 Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes- AMG GT3: "We had a great lineup at Daytona, a great lineup here, and Dani just did a mega double and a half stint at the end to get us to victory lane. I'm thrilled and just so proud of all the crew. Minimal mistakes through the race and all weekend. I don't think anybody would have pegged us for the points leader coming out of Sebring, but we are here now, and we are going to keep chasing after it. Now we have to get a win."

Daniel Juncadella, Driver – No. 32 Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: "It was great. My first experience at Sebring and there were results. Second is a great result. We had a really clean race, well executed and we kept going forward all of the time. We didn't have any setbacks, which is always surprising, and we spent the whole race fuel saving for strategy. I just had to hit our fuel number in that last hour. It was never in doubt. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 is a very forgiving car for everybody. We all love the balance. It's a really nice car to drive and it has been proven over the years it is a great car in long and endurance races. We saw that again today. In 12 hours, no glitches, no setbacks, such a good race."

Eric Foss, Driver – No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: "Honestly, I am extremely happy with our result in the Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4. We came in here knowing we had some ground to make up on the competition, and I think the series is working on that. We took a huge gamble. We stayed out when others pit and just tried and tried to save fuel. I was conserving fuel, coasting where I could under yellows and doing the NASCAR-style turning the car off and on. When it went back to green, I knew we were super close on fuel so I just tried to draft as much as I could and carry as much momentum through the corners as I could. The brakes and handling on the Mercedes-AMG GT4 are so good. That allowed us to maintain a really good pace, but I was really bummed we even had the yellow at the end because I thought the lead car was just starting to lose its tires. The yellow bunched the field up and put some of the other quick guys right behind me. I was going to fight them hard but not compromise any of our races, and in the end, we got just edged out of the podium. That was a little bittersweet, but we got some good points and leave here in pretty good shape for the championship. Our focus this year is on the season, not just races."

Kris Wilson, Driver – No. 11 Capstone Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4: "We had a lot of changes in the off-season, moving from Colorado to Atlanta, and then our transporter caught fire leaving Daytona in January. Luckily, the fire department got there in time. Our transporter driver fought it as hard as he could too, but his extinguisher ran out just as the fire department got there. When it comes to racing and getting it done on track, however, everything is going well. The hard work is paying off. The team is starting to gel, we made three pit stops and they were all flawless. The Mercedes-AMG GT4 always brakes and handles well and let us not only win again in Bronze Cup, but also get our first top-10 of the season."

Gary Ferrera, Driver – No. 11 Capstone Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4: "It was really about the team at Sebring. No mistakes, amazing pit stops, and the strategy was perfect. Everything worked out exactly the way I would want it to. I am big on teamwork, which is why I love this racing. I like strategy and I like teamwork. The car was great, each track is new to me in the Mercedes-AMG GT4. I took a second and a half off from practice to qualifying and want to keep building on that. I love it here at Sebring. My Dad was based here in World War II, so I am emotional about this track and really love it."

Trevor Andrusko, Driver – No. 55 FCP Euro Mercedes-AMG GT4: "Definitely a solid foundation at Sebring to build on going forward. We are not back in the car until June at Watkins Glen, so we have a lot of time to perfect everything and look at our weak points. Our pit stop was perfect, my stint was pretty good, and I was comfortable in the car fairly quickly and early on. I had very limited seat time going into the race. I handed the car over to Mike, but a fuel shuffle and the long yellows messed us up a little bit. Mike came out of the pits around 18th to 20th and drove it up to 14th, so a strong showing on his part. I was definitely a little anxious coming into this race. I had never driven a front engine car or one with such a long hood. It was an interesting change, but I hit my marks, had good data and I am very comfortable in the Mercedes-AMG GT4. I think we will have a good showing at Watkins Glen."

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