Winward Racing will maintain total continuity for its sixth consecutive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship campaign, confirming that team co-owner Russell Ward and Mercedes-AMG factory Performance Driver Philip Ellis will return as full-time drivers in the #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO for 2027.
Since making their WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut in 2021, Ward and Ellis have anchored the Pasadena, Texas-based squad to two GTD championships and 15 race victories, including three Rolex 24 At Daytona wins and two triumphs at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Beyond its core IMSA GTD program, Winward Racing expanded its scope this year by running a second Mercedes-AMG in GTD Pro at Daytona and Sebring while continuing its presence in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. Internationally, Winward’s European division has established itself as a premier GT operation, serving as the service provider for four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen’s GT team in SRO competition. The team captured overall victory at this year’s 24 Hours of Nürburgring and took the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup title, while driver Maro Engel currently sits second in the DTM standings ahead of the season finale at the Hockenheimring.
The driver renewal comes as Winward leads the GTD standings entering next week’s season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. A victory in the standings would make Winward the first team since Scuderia Corsa to win three consecutive GTD titles – and the first ever to accomplish the feat with the exact same driver lineup all three years.
Looking ahead to the quick turnaround between seasons, Ward made it clear where the team’s focus lies.
“We haven’t started the 2027 prep, but the 2027 prep will start the day that we get back (from Road Atlanta),” he said.
The team’s current championship lead follows a dramatic mid-season turnaround. After early setbacks at Sebring and Watkins Glen, Winward surged back from a 300-point deficit with three consecutive victories following the Six Hours of the Glen, bringing their season total to a class-high four wins.
“I think 2026 has been one of our best years,” said Ward. “We’ve had some bad luck at the start of the season with Sebring and Watkins Glen. To be honest, I think it would not be out of the realm to say that if we hadn’t have had those issues, we’d be another 200 points ahead. A top-five finish in both of those rounds was definitely possible. That would put us in, you know, basically the same form that we had in 2024 and 2025.
“It’s going to come down to Petit Le Mans. It’s definitely one of the more exciting seasons that we’ve had with Winward Racing.”
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