Above: Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Mario Farnbacher smile after taking home the 12 Hours of Sebring win in GTD.
"We are delighted to win the 12 Hours of Sebring in what was our first attempt in the 50-year history of Mercedes-AMG and the first appearance of the three pointed star in this legendary race in 60 years," said Thomas Jaeger, program coordinator for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing. "The Mercedes-AMG GT3 has proven itself a major endurance race winner around the world but the challenge of the 12 Hours of Sebring is unlike anything else we have undertaken in the past."
Pitted against teams like Scuderia Corsa – the defending class champions – new factory teams from Acura and Lexus, and all of the monsters that make the race to Victory Lane such a brutal endeavor in GTD, Keating says Riley Motorsports' early success with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 platform is remarkable considering the opposition it faces.
"All the stars seemed to align; that was really neat," he added. "And to see our face on the Mercedes-Benz website after the win, watching them celebrate our success was really cool. From an IMSA standpoint or a championship standpoint, we are in a different position than we have ever been. We have had a really successful program in the past, but it has been really high highs and really low lows.
"But when you have a car that is that hooked up and dialed in like this, you don't mind being in fierce competition. Scuderia Corsa were right on our heels the whole time. At the four-hour mark, we were in the lead and they were in second. At the eight-hour mark, we were in the lead and they were in second. The 12-hour mark, we were in the lead and they were in second. They were not far from the fastest race lap and we had all the usual teams to go up against. The harder you have to fight for each win, the sweeter that win is, and that was our case in Sebring."
Basking in the Sebring win will soon be replaced by another fight as IMSA heads to Long Beach for Round 3 of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Keating knows Riley Motorsports' lead in the Drivers' and Teams' standings will be under fire from the moment practice begins on the legendary street circuit, and cannot count on a Sebring-style smackdown to hold the other brands at bay.
"After the [Sebring] race, I thought [Scuderia Corsa's] Christina Nielsen said it best," he said. "We were over there at the podium standing in line and she said, 'Hey, enjoy it while you've got it. Last year we had the car to beat, we had a very dominant car and we made the most of it. And congrats to you for taking a car that was very strong and making the most of it.'
"She said, 'some competitors may be upset with you because you had such a strong car, but don't pay any mind to them. Everyone is going to take their turn at the top and you have to make the most of it when it is your turn.' It was very nice to hear from a competitor. But don't get me wrong, if they get the chance to beat us, they're going to jump at it."