Dread it. Run from it. Winward Racing arrives all the same.
That’s how the rest of the GTD field in IMSA are probably feeling right about now after Philip Ellis and Russell Ward extended their class winning streak to three straight races with a win at the Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway.
After only one caution flag flew the entire day, Ellis and Ward ran at the front of the field next to the Heart of Racing No. 27 and Turner Motorsports No. 96 for a large portion of the race. The decisive moment came late in the action when a borderline move from Tom Gamble on Ellis resulted in contact with the No. 57 that was deemed to be over the line by the stewards, resulting in a drive through penalty and another brutal break for Gamble and THOR.
The trip down pit lane took Gamble out of the fight and gave Ellis all the space he needed to drive the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG home to the finish line, and controversial or not, the victory went to Winward all the same.
With what is now their third-straight win and fourth overall on the season following their win at the Rolex 24, Ellis and Ward vaulted to the top of the standings and currently hold a 36-point lead over Turner in second place with just Indianapolis and Petit Le Mans remaining on the calendar.
Being in first place is an all-too-familiar spot for Ellis, Ward and the Winward team as they zero in on what would be a historic championship three-peat. The tandem have been a constant together since Winward’s full-season IMSA debut came back in 2022 and have steadily built themselves into one of the most consistent performers in the entire IMSA paddock. The 33-year-old Ellis is a FIA Gold-rated driver, while Ward is currently rated as a Silver. In the time that the two have been together, the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG have won 14 races, finished on the podium 19 times and have won the Rolex 24 and 12 Hours of Sebring twice – with Ellis and Ward being together for every single one of those achievements. They’ve also claimed a Michelin Endurance Cup title in 2024.
For obvious reasons, it’s difficult to pull off a championship three-peat in any sport, never mind one that can have as much turnover and as many shifting chairs as motorsports. Yet Ellis and Ward are in position to do just that, which would be especially rare with the same team, the same car and the same driver lineup winning three straight years in both the drivers’ and teams’ championships.
If Winward are to pull off this feat, or even if they don’t, a question can be posed to the collective powers that be – would it finally be time for either Winward themselves or for IMSA to elevate them to the GTD Pro ranks starting next season?
There was a recent trend of teams finding championship success in GTD getting their call-up to the Pro ranks, with Paul Miller Racing, AO Racing and Pfaff Motorsports all jumping from GTD to GTD Pro as recent examples in years past. If Winward finish out the season with more wins or just consistent results to claim that third-straight championship, would it be time to bump them up into the Pro ranks and level out the two GT fields just a bit?
Lord knows the Pro class could use the company with the already-confirmed departure of Pfaff from the grid, while the future of Paul Miller appears sealed just not yet revealed at this time. There are reports that Wayne Taylor Racing could be in line to take over the Pro-entry Temerario, but the shoes of the BMW M4 GT3 would have to be filled, and giving the Pro class a Mercedes-AMG would certainly boost the competitive ranks.
Typically, we aren’t big on the idea of ‘punishing’ teams for winning consistently, and some could say that ‘forcing’ a move from GTD to GTD Pro isn’t relatively fair on the surface of things. However, for the sake of the GTD class and to recognize that perhaps this one team has outgrown the pond it swims in, it could just be a perfect segue into the 2027 season to add an operation like Winward Racing into the mix. They’ve won basically everything there is to win in their current class, and Winward could certainly handle the extra responsibility of taking on that particular new challenge.
Again, even if it’s simply for the sake of pumping up the Pro ranks next season, the move should happen for the good of the realm. Let’s see if Winward, or IMSA, are thinking the same way.
