Mercedes-AMG's Bid for a Third Straight IMSA GTD Title Comes Down to Six Points
Sent to the back before the start at Indianapolis, the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG recovered to second — half a second behind the one team still chasing its championship.
Winward Racing's shot at a third consecutive IMSA GT Daytona championship now hangs on six points and ten hours of racing at Road Atlanta. In Sunday's Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Russell Ward and Philip Ellis charged from last on the grid to second place — and the car that beat it by half a second belongs to the only team that can still take the title away.
The recovery drive wasn't the plan. A miscue on the formation lap meant the No. 57 failed to reach its grid slot in time, and officials sent the reigning champions to the back of the 13-car GTD field before the green flag.
Ward cut through roughly half the class in his opening stint before handing over to Ellis, and a clean final pit stop with less than an hour remaining put the Mercedes back inside the top five. Ellis then closed onto the leader in the final minutes, but with all four IMSA classes sharing the 2.439-mile road course, traffic never opened a door. The No. 57 crossed the line 0.501 seconds short of the win after two hours and 40 minutes of racing.
The team that held on out front made the result sting twice. Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher took Turner Motorsport's No. 96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO to its first victory since Road America in August 2024 — and, more importantly, sliced Winward's championship lead from 36 points to six. The Mercedes squad heads to the season finale on 2,693 points to Turner's 2,687.
Ward and Ellis have won the GTD drivers' title in each of the past two seasons, and their second half of 2026 has been the stronger one: three victories plus the Indianapolis runner-up finish since midseason. The math for the finale is simple, as Ward acknowledged after the race.
"We know we have to beat our closest challenger by at least one position. We just need to make sure we finish well at Road Atlanta, and I know we will."
Mercedes-AMG's side of the ledger looks far more comfortable. The brand arrived at Indianapolis leading the GTD manufacturer standings by 20 points and left with a 94-point cushion, 2,954 to 2,860 over its closest rival, putting a third straight manufacturer crown within easy reach.
The weekend's other No. 57 offered a preview of the comeback script. In Saturday's IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race, Bryce Ward and Daan Arrow recovered from an early penalty to bring the sister Mercedes-AMG GT4 home fourth after gaining more than a dozen positions — the pairing's best result since a win at Watkins Glen in late June with a substitute driver.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship concludes with the Motul Petit Le Mans weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, September 30 through October 3, where the 10-hour finale will settle the GTD driver, team, and manufacturer titles in one afternoon.
