Winward Racing took another decisive step toward a potential third consecutive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD title on Sunday, leveraging flawless pit strategy and clean driving to win the Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix at Road America.
The victory marks the third GTD win of the 2026 season for drivers Russell Ward and Philip Ellis, who were rejoined by endurance teammate Indy Dontje in the #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3. The triumph dramatically reshapes the championship picture, cutting Ward and Ellis's deficit to just 24 points behind overall leader Eduardo "Dudu" Barrichello. Barrichello managed only a 15th-place finish in Heart of Racing Team’s #27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO alongside co-drivers Tom Gamble and Zacharie Robichon.
Despite taking the checkered flag, the Winward drivers admitted the afternoon was far from seamless.
"I think we struggled a bit with our car balance and pace, and people tried different things to get in front of us on pit stops," Ellis said. "That made it a lot more difficult today, but the crew had perfect pit stops, and Russell and Indy did a perfect job as well keeping the car in one piece while also making up positions on track and taking opportunities when they arrived."
For Winward, capitalizing on a clean track run was a welcome turn of fortune after mid-season incidents dampened their early momentum.
"The bad luck we've had throughout the year has been a result of other competitors' poor driving, crashing early in these endurance races, taking us out," said Ward, who also co-owns the team with his father, Bryce. "When we can have some semi-clean racing, this is what this team is capable of. We ran this race like an endurance race, really focused on the final pit stop, making sure that we pushed the fuel all the way to the end as far as we could."
Dontje pointed to clean execution in the pit lane as the final differentiator.
"In the end, good calls from the team, great pit stops – also we have no scratch on the car," Dontje said. "I think that's also really important in the race. Gave us the win today.”
The Road America triumph adds to Winward's 2026 victories at the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, bringing the Ward-Ellis duo to 14 career WeatherTech Championship race wins.
