Winward Racing scored the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge victory in Saturday’s LP Building Solutions 120 after poor luck bit the team that had appeared to play its pit stop strategy to perfection, CarBahn by Peregrine Racing, inside the final 20 minutes of the two-hour race.
Bryce Ward and Philip Ellis co-drove the winning #57 Mercedes-AMG GT4 to the victory in Grand Sport (GS) to the team’s fourth victory in the series, but first since Indianapolis in 2023. Ellis is filling in this weekend for Daan Arrow, who had a schedule clash with the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa this weekend.
From her first pole and the first in GS by a woman since 2007, Hannah Grisham led the field for the bulk of her first stint in the #26 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT4 EVO she shares with Hannah Greenemeier. But as she pitted just after the minimum drive-time window of 40 minutes elapsed, it became apparent that tyre management in the heat and excellence from the crew on pit lane would make a big impact in the two-hour race.
On both pit sequences, the CarBahn crew that fielded the #39 BMW M4 GT4 EVO of Sean McAlister and Jeff Westphal gained several seconds on their competitors, after starting fourth. Westphal withstood an overcut attempt by Ellis in the second stint after Ellis had gained several seconds prior to the last stop.
It appeared as though the #39 BMW had the race won before Westphal appeared to strike a kerb at turn five, with the resulting damaging puncturing his left rear tire. It also brought out a full-course caution, the first of the race after the first 100-plus minutes ran without one.
Following a restart, an additional full-course caution for debris on track – when the kerb at the Inner Loop chicane – brought the race behind the safety car to the finish.
The #57 Mercedes-AMG won ahead of a pair of Fords, the #13 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang GT4 (Nate Cicero/Robert Noaker) and #60 KOHR Motorsports Mustang (Evan Slater/Mike Skeen). Skeen had made a pass of Luca Mars in the #95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 EVO for third just after the restart (while Mars suffered race-ending wheel damage from striking the damaged Inner Loop kerb).
“I think it comes down to teamwork,” Bryce Ward said. “Having Philip as a co-driver this weekend helped me so much during the practice we did. The #39 car jumped us in the pit stops; ours were great, but theirs were better as they needed less fuel with a fuel advantage. I was sad to see them go out … but the racing gods were in our favor today.”
Following an alternator belt issue at Mid-Ohio, this result helps Ward in the championship as several cars should be within 100 points once provisional results are posted.
“I don’t think we came here thinking we had to win, but we came in with the attitude we must finish every single lap as best as we can to put us in the championship,” Ward explained. “It worked in our favour.”
A technical infringement sent the #5 KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Honda Civic FL5 TCR to the rear of the TCR field to start Saturday’s race. But a comeback drive from Rocco Pasquarella to start the race and a strong finish from Tim Lewis Jr. ensured the KMW car broke its run of bad luck.
Pasquarella started 14th in the TCR field but quickly ascended to tenth on the first lap, sixth a few laps later, and third by the time the minimum drive time window elapsed 40 minutes into the race.
Once Lewis took over the car, he was in podium position behind fellow Honda runners HART, its #89 Civic in the hands of Chad Gilsinger. However, Lewis passed Gilsinger for the lead with 32 minutes remaining, with a hard-charging Celso Neto up to third in his #77 Stallion Motorsports w/Gou Cupra Leon VZ TCR.
Neto then passed Lewis for the lead into the Bus Stop with 20 minutes to go. However, that was short-lived as four minutes later, roughly the same time as the GS leader encountered an issue, Lewis and Eddie Gou in the #55 Gou Racing w/Stallion Audi RS3 LMS passed Neto.
A further charge from Mason Filippi in the #33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR brought him up to second past Gou, ensuring another strong result for both he and Bryson Morris, the championship leaders entering the race.
But for Pasquarella and Lewis, the win was a needed result as its first with Honda after a series of near misses in the last 18 months since switching from Alfa Romeo.
“It was a tough start to the weekend, but we knew we’d be strong going forward (from the back),” said Pasquarella, who won his first IMSA race. “Last-to-first wasn’t what we expected for our first win, but it’s pretty memorable.”
Lewis, who won his tenth race and first since Road America in 2024, added, “We had major adversity this weekend, but Rocco never gave up. The KMW team gave us a great car and we capitalised on it.”
The IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge races next at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada, outside Toronto, for round six on Saturday, 11 July.
Images © IMSA
