Mercedes-AMG has announced the driver line-ups of its five customer entries in the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona, across the GTD PRO and GTD classes.
Headlining the list of three GTD PRO entries is Michelin Endurance Cup competitor 75 Express and the long-awaited Daytona 24 Hours debut of two-time IndyCar Series champion Will Power. Power will share the #75 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO with team owner/driver Kenny Habul, newly-crowned Australian Supercars Champion Chaz Mostert, and long-tenured Mercedes-AMG Performance Driver Maro Engel.
Power was meant to enter the race in 2023, but withdrew before the event to be with his wife Liz, who suffered a life-threatening staph infection after surgery.
Two-time and defending IMSA WeatherTech GTD Champions, and two-time Daytona class winners, Winward Racing will enter two cars for the first time, with confirmation of the #48 GTD PRO car that will compete at Daytona and Sebring.
Scott Noble, Jason Hart, Maxime Martin, and Luca Stolz will drive the #48 Winward Racing car at Daytona – confirming that the team will stay in GTD PRO, despite longer minimum drive time obligations for Bronze drivers in the class, such as Noble and Habul.
GetSpeed’s second Daytona entry, in cooperation with Bartone Bros Racing, will see the already-announced Anthony Bartone partnered with Maximilian Götz, Jules Gounon, and Fabian Schiller in the #69 car.
Winward Racing will also continue to run the #57 car in GTD, the start of a pursuit of a championship hat trick for the team, for full-time drivers Russell Ward and Philip Ellis, and for Mercedes-AMG as a manufacturer.
Ward, Ellis, Indy Dontje, and Lucas Auer will return to the #57 car at Daytona, after a gutsy performance that saw this same crew of team and drivers come back from a seven-lap deficit to lead the race and eventually finish fourth in class.
Also running in GTD is Lone Star Racing, back to start another Endurance Cup campaign with the #80 car. Lin Hodenius will make his first Rolex 24 start alongside Scott Andrews, Ralf Aron, and James Roe Jnr.
Stefan Wendl, Head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing, said today: “The Rolex 24 At Daytona is an absolute highlight at the start of the new racing calendar. Our customer racing teams are entering the race with strong line-ups in the GTD PRO and GTD classes. We have shown in recent years that the Mercedes-AMG GT3 is absolutely competitive at the Daytona International Speedway.
“Our goal is clear: we want to fight for victory again in the 24-hour race and also play a leading role in the IMSA championship in 2026. The chance of a hat-trick gives us additional motivation.”
Mercedes-AMG has three previous class wins at the Rolex 24, the aforementioned two GTD victories from Winward Racing in 2021 and 2024, and a 2023 GTD PRO class win by WeatherTech Racing (Proton Competition).
In addition, Mercedes-AMG also confirmed two full-season entries in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge GS class.
Bryce Ward and Daan Arrow will continue to drive the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4, while Murillo Racing returns, in alliance with P1 Motor Club, to field the #24 Mercedes-AMG for Kenny Murillo and Aurora Straus.
Images © Brandon Badraoui / IMSA / Lumen
