Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Teams Secure Podium and Top-Five Finishes

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Teams Secure Podium and Top-Five Finishes in Hard-Fought IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Races at Watkins Glen International

The No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 team, and co-drivers Mikael Grenier, Mike Skeen and Kenton Koch, also bolstered their 2023 Michelin Endurance Cup GTD-class title bid with a six-point haul in Sunday's Sahlen's Six Hours. The half-dozen points provisionally solidifies the No. 32 team and drivers just one point out of first place in the Endurance Cup GTD team and driver standings with only October's season-ending Petit Le Mans finale remaining in the four-race championship that awards the top performers in the year's long-distance races.

Despite finishing a disappointing 12th place finish in GTD after being assessed a pit refueling time drive-through penalty late in the race, the Team Korthoff No. 32 was the only Mercedes-AMG GT3 to lead race laps Sunday. Grenier, Skeen and Koch kept the car in lead-lap contention for the majority of the race.

WeatherTech Racing provisionally holds first in the Endurance Cup standings with 33 points and remains second in the overall WeatherTech GTD team and driver championship, 113 points out of first and 59 points clear of third place.

In Saturday's wet and wild IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race, Kenny Murillo and Christian Szymczak maintained their Grand Sport (GS) class championship lead with a third-place finish in the No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4.

The No. 72 team and drivers have also earned a pair of podium finishes in this year's first five Pilot Challenge races, starting with a victory last month at WeatherTech Raceway to go along with this weekend's third place showing.

At the mid-point of the 10-race season, Murillo, Szymczak and the No. 72 squad are first in both the GS driver and championship standings with 1,300 points, 60 tallies ahead of the second-place team and drivers.

With two victories and no race finish lower than fourth in the first half of the season, Mercedes-AMG also remains atop the GS manufacturer championship standings by 70 points over the nearest competitor, 1,620 – 1,550.

The No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Jeff Mosing and Eric Foss joined its sister No. 72 entry as a top-five finisher in Saturday's race, but placing both of its Mercedes-AMG entries in the top five was far from easy for Murillo Racing.

After the race start was delayed due to heavy rain and flooding around the Watkins Glen circuit, the two-hour Pilot Challenge race finally went green an hour late on a wet 3.4-mile circuit.

With Murillo leading from the pole on a drying track, Mosing was the first in the field to pit for dry-weather slick tires just before the race's 30-minute mark. Murillo and the majority of the GS field followed suit a couple of laps later, but the changing wet-and-dry conditions ultimately made for a caution-plagued race slowed five times by yellow flags.

Closing drivers Szymczak and Foss crossed the finish line fifth and seventh, respectively, but both Murillo entries were elevated two finishing positions when the cars that took the checkered flag third and fourth failed post-race technical inspection.

Next up for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams in WeatherTech and Pilot Challenge competition is IMSA's annual trip 'North of the Border' to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, July 7 – 9.

Jules Gounon, Driver – No. 79 WeatherTech Racing/Proton Competition Mercedes-AMG GT3: 'I felt we won today. We got the maximum with the way the car is with the current rules. The WeatherTech Racing/Proton team and Dani had no mistakes. We tried crazy moves with the strategy and had good pit stops, but when we were in the front we just couldn't stay there. I am looking forward to racing at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in two weeks which will be a new track for me.'

Mike Skeen, Driver – No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: 'Looking at the final results, it's frustrating, but the guys did a fantastic job, especially starting really early with the fuel-save strategy to put us in a position to open up the fuel window to get us to the halfway point. Getting P2 points there puts us in a great position for the endurance cup championship going into Petit Le Mans. We are really happy about that, and in the meantime hopefully we can round up some trophies at some upcoming races. I always love VIR (VIRginia International Raceway), it's a home track for me and always a super fun event. That's a highlight, and then going back to Mosport – Canadian Tire Motorsport Park – after a couple years away from racing there for me personally will be a lot of fun. It's one of my favorite tracks and I think it should suit our Mercedes-AMG GT3 very well.'

Christian Szymczak, Driver – No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: 'There were a lot of incidents in the race, and we were really happy to finish and get out of Watkins Glen with some points on the board. It was scary out there with all of the restarts. At times maybe I was a little too cautious, but we needed the points, we had to get a result in there and we are happy. It is more of the same for the rest of the year. We are going to finish the best we can but always finish. Keep an eye on the prize, make sure we finish these races and haul as many points in as we can every race. The races are so tough, you saw what happened here, it's a real show, but I love Watkins Glen. It's high speed, exciting and scary. An awesome track!'

Photo credit: Mercedes-Benz
posted on conceptcarz.com

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