Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Team TR3 Racing Secures First GT World Challenge Three-Hour Race Win with the No. 9 Mercedes-AMG GT3 and Co-Drivers Brayton Williams and Daniel Morad at Road America
First-Year TR3 Racing Driver Brayton Williams Co-Drove with Coach and
Teammate Daniel Morad to a Convincing First Race Win Sunday in the SRO GT
World Challenge America powered by AWS Three-Hour Endurance Contest at
Road America. Battling at the Front of the Field and for the Pro-Am Class
Victory the Entire Race, the Best Opening Driving Stint of Williams’ Brief
Career was the Springboard Closer Morad Needed to Put the No. 9 TR3 Racing
Mercedes-AMG GT3 into a Lead He Would Hold to the Finish with Just Under
40 Minutes Remaining in the First Race Run at Road America in SRO’s New GT
World Challenge Three-Hour Race Era. The Pro-Am Win and Third-Place
Overall Finish for TR3 Anchored a Strong Performance by the Three
Competing Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Teams at Road America.
The No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Michai Stephens and Mikael
Grenier Continued its Pro Class Championship Bid with a Second-Place Class
and Overall Showing While the Pairing of Jason Daskalos and Philip Ellis
Rebounded from a Race Weekend Engine Change for a Top Five Pro-Am Finish
in the No. 27 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3.
TR3 Racing became the third Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Team to
secure a victory in the new SRO GT World Challenge America powered by AWS
three-hour race era with a clean and convincing win Sunday at Road America
with first-year team driver Brayton Williams and his coach and co-driver
Daniel Morad in the No. 9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. After the best
race-opening driving stint of Williams’ young career, race closer Morad
muscled his way into the lead with just under 40 minutes remaining. Morad
held the point for the remainder of the race and took the checkered flag for
the class win – and third place overall – with a 6.433-second margin of
victory.
The win was the maiden victory for TR3 Racing in an endurance race and third
career win in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 in GT World Challenge after Morad co-drove
to a pair of Pro class victories – and one an overall triumph – with the
team at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) in 2023.
The TR3 entry also joins the pair of competing JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG
GT3 entries in making Mercedes-AMG the first manufacturer competing in GT
World Challenge this year to score Pro or Pro-Am race wins with each of its
full-season entries. The Pro class championship leading No. 34 JMF
Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Michai Stephens and Mikael Grenier has
secured a pair of class victories this year – one an overall win as well at
Sonoma Raceway – while the sister No. 27 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 of
Jason Daskalos and Philip Ellis came to Road America riding the momentum of
a Pro-Am class and overall victory one race prior at Michelin Raceway Road
Atlanta.
Both JMF teams rebounded from early weekend issues – including an engine
swap for the No. 27 – to join TR3 in making it two Mercedes-AMG GT3 entries
in the overall top-three and the entire trio finishing in the top seven in
the outright running order. Mercedes-AMG was the only competing manufacturer
with multiple entries to get every car to the finish line in the
attrition-plagued race that saw only 14 of the 23 starters finish.
Stephens and closing driver Grenier finished second in class and overall and
leave Road America with a three-point lead in the Pro class championship
standings with two rounds remaining on the 2026 calendar. Daskalos and Ellis
overcame virtually no practice time to secure a no-quit top-five finish in
Pro-Am and seventh overall.
A trio of Mercedes-AMG GT4 entries also contested the weekend’s twin
60-minute Pirelli GT4 America races. Pro-Am class contenders Off Leash
Motorsports and JMF Motorsports endured forgettable weekends – including No.
39 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 driver Marc Miller escaping injury in a
heavy, multi-car accident on Saturday – but it was Am division entrants
Eddie Killeen and co-driver Laura Hayes stepping up to get the Mercedes-AMG
GT4 to victory lane.
After an encouraging fourth-place finish in Friday’s first sprint, Killeen
and Hayes improved two positions in Saturday’s wet and wild second race to
secure a podium spot with a season-best second-place finish. It was the
second visit to the podium this year for Killeen and Hayes after finishing
third in the No. 37 Mercedes-AMG GT4 in their first race together in the
season opener at Sonoma Raceway in March.
Next up for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams in SRO America
competition is another full-series weekend of competition at Barber
Motorsports Park, September 25 – 27.
“It’s awesome. Daniel drove unbelievably. The win came a lot sooner than
I thought it would happen, but we have put in a lot of hours on the
simulator, and Daniel and I have connected quite a bit. Stepping up was a
big jump, but the Mercedes-AMG GT3 makes it pretty simple to get in and
just go. The racing was pretty hectic in my stint. I was coming through
the kink and following a competitor and I had a big snap. I thought that
was our race right there, but I hung on to it and kept pushing. We will
just carry the momentum to the last two races and hopefully P1 again.
Three in a row.”
Brayton Williams, Driver - No. 9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
“It was a little bit tight out there but if you are not first you are
last, and on Sunday we were first. I never shy away from a good old street
fight. Honestly, it is even more fun for me when things get a little
chippy. It was a super satisfying win just based on the amount of
attrition on track and just the nature of the race. It was Brayton’s first
win in top-level competition, which is just so awesome, and I am
incredibly proud to have shared that moment with him, TR3 Racing and
Williams International. Everything was perfect today. The crew did an
amazing job on the pit stops. Not one mistake all through the race.
Perfectly executed, well done by the engineers and I am really happy.
Brayton is more dedicated to doing the simulator work than me! Early in
the season, he was really thrown into the shark tank. He is really
accelerating his learning curve because we are making all of the typical
mistakes on the simulator. Understanding how to actually execute these
moves in the virtual world avoids the detrimental outcome at the track. I
love that we have so much time on there.”
Daniel Morad, Driver - No. 9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
“A good result and great work by everyone. After a difficult weekend, we
had a good car for the race and Michai did amazing as well. It was not
easy, but the car is in one piece and we got some points. We had a really
good car at Barber Motorsports Park last year and it is a good track for
us. Still a lot of points left with Barber and Indy, which is double
points again.”
Mikael Grenier, Driver - No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG
GT3
“It really is tremendous when a group comes together. It means the world
to each and every one of us that’s on the team that make up JMF
Motorsports with our partners Mercedes-AMG and beyond. So, we keep the
fight alive. Anything can happen at any stage of the game, and that’s the
beauty of motorsport as we can attest. We will keep our heads high, remain
optimistic and drive forward. It was nice to get back on the horse and get
driving again. It was a bit of a lull there. There wasn’t much rhythm to
the race in my opening stint, but any time Mik is behind the wheel, and we
have our JMF Mercedes-AMG near the front, there is opportunity.”
Michai Stephens, Driver - No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG
GT3
“It’s a testament to the team that worked so hard to pull the engine and
get a new one in. We missed practice and literally only got 20 minutes of
practice all weekend. To be able to salvage some points after that feels
good. It’s going to be tough to make a run at the championship. Obviously,
we need to win out the next two races to even make it happen. I am really
good at Barber and the Mercedes-AMG GT3 is really good at Barber. It’s
racing and anything can happen!”
Jason Daskalos, Driver - No. 27 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG
GT3
“That was a nice way to finish after the way the weekend kind of began.
We came a long way, and when we saw rain in the forecast yesterday, we
were all pretty excited. Definitely hate what happened to Marc, though,
and I am just glad that he's okay. In our race, Eddie handed over a good
clean car and I had some fun on the restart. People were going off, and
that was my first time in the Mercedes-AMG GT4 in the wet. Really, I think
it was my first time or maybe second time on Pirelli rains too. I was just
trying to figure it all out in a quick amount of time. The Mercedes-AMG
GT4 was fast, and I know there is more there. I wish we had another lap or
two. I think we could have won it.”
Laura Hayes, Driver - No. 37 Dome Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4
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