Mercedes-AMG has announced the driver line-ups of its five customer entries in the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona, headlined by the long-awaited Daytona race debut of two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion and 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner Will Power.
Power will drive for Kenny Habul’s 75 Express team, sharing the No. 75 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO with newly-crowned Repco Supercars Champion Chaz Mostert, and tenured Mercedes-AMG Performance Driver Maro Engel. Power was due to run the race in 2023, but dropped out to be with his wife Liz after a life-threatening staph infection.
The 75 Express car that will compete in the five-race Michelin Endurance Cup is one of three GTD PRO Mercedes-AMG entries in the upcoming edition of the Daytona 24 Hours. Two-time and defending IMSA WeatherTech GTD champions and two-time Daytona class winners Winward Racing will enter two cars for the first time, with confirmation of the No. 48 GTD PRO car that will compete at Daytona and Sebring.
Scott Noble, Jason Hart, Maxime Martin, and Luca Stolz will drive the No. 48 Winward Racing car at Daytona, confirming that the team will stay in GTD PRO, despite longer minimum drive time obligations for Bronze drivers in the class, such as Noble and Habul.
GetSpeed’s second Daytona entry, in cooperation with Bartone Bros Racing, will see the already-announced Anthony Bartone partnered with Maximilian Götz, Jules Gounon, and Fabian Schiller in the No. 69 car.
Winward Racing will also continue to run the No. 57 car in GTD, the start of a pursuit of a championship hat-trick for the team, for full-time drivers Russell Ward and Philip Ellis, and for Mercedes-AMG as a manufacturer.
Ward, Ellis, Indy Dontje, and Lucas Auer will return to the No. 57 car at Daytona, after a gutsy performance that saw this same crew of team and drivers come back from a seven-lap deficit to lead the race and eventually finish fourth in class.
Also running in GTD is Lone Star Racing, back to start another Endurance Cup campaign with the No. 80 car. Lin Hodenius will make his first Rolex 24 start alongside Scott Andrews, Ralf Aron, and a fourth driver to be named later.
Stefan Wendl, Head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing, said: “The Rolex 24 At Daytona is an absolute highlight at the start of the new racing calendar. Our customer racing teams are entering the race with strong line-ups in the GTD PRO and GTD classes. We have shown in recent years that the Mercedes-AMG GT3 is absolutely competitive at the Daytona International Speedway.
“Our goal is clear: we want to fight for victory again in the 24-hour race and also play a leading role in the IMSA championship in 2026. The chance of a hat-trick gives us additional motivation.”
Mercedes-AMG has three previous class wins at the Rolex 24, the aforementioned two GTD victories from Winward Racing in 2021 and 2024, and a 2023 GTD PRO class win by WeatherTech Racing (Proton Competition).
In addition, Mercedes-AMG also confirmed two full-season GT4 entries in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge GS class.
Bryce Ward and Daan Arrow will continue to drive the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4, while Murillo Racing returns for the first time since 2023, in alliance with P1 Motor Club, to field the No. 24 car for Kenny Murillo and Aurora Straus.