JMF Motorsports Stays Perfect in SRO GT World Challenge America’s New Three-Hour Race Era with a Second Consecutive Pro-Class Race Win from the Pole with Co-Drivers Mikael Grenier and Michai Stephens in the No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) on Sunday. The Victory Solidifies the No. 34 JMF Motorsports Team and Grenier and Stephens as the Early Season Championship Leaders in GT World Challenge Pro with the First Two of the Year’s Seven Races in the Record Books.
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing team JMF Motorsports continued to be the team to beat in the new three-hour race era of the SRO GT World Challenge America powered by AWS racing series with the team’s second Pro-class victory from the pole in as many races Sunday in the second round of the 2026 championship at Circuit of The Americas (COTA). Starting from the pole as the team did for its first win last month in the inaugural GTWCA three-hour race at Sonoma Raceway, the No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 and co-drivers Mikael Grenier and Michai Stephens were the top pacesetters all weekend.
Sunday’s victory was harder earned than the near flag-to-flag win at Sonoma with the No. 34 JMF team and Grenier persevering through a pair of late penalties in a typically hot and harried COTA GT World Challenge race. Despite the challenges, Grenier and Stephens were never seriously challenged by their Pro-class competitors and instead battled with the eventual Pro-Am and overall race winner in the final hour.
Grenier took the checkered flag first on course but a 10 second penalty from one of the earlier infractions gave the outright win to the Pro-Am entry. Despite the slight disappointment of not securing the overall victory, the Pro-class win solidified JMF’s perfect Pro-class points haul in the year’s first two races. Grenier crossed the line more than six seconds clear of the second-place Pro class competitor and 35 seconds ahead of third place.
Sunday’s other Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing team to visit victory lane was the debuting GT World Challenge duo of Marc Austin and Jason Golan in the No. 11 Mad Joker with Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. Competing in a two-car race in the Am class for “sportsman” or Bronze rated drivers, Austin and Golan battled with a team that included former Rolex 24 At Daytona overall winner Oswaldo Negri Jr.
Austin and Golan proved up to the challenge, passing for the lead at mid-race and staying in touch with their competitor for the entire three hours. A late spin when Austin ran over the debris from a competitor that returned to the track after going off course took the No. 11 out of winning contention, but he quickly recovered and kept the pressure on until the finish. Austin crossed the finish line for runner-up honors just 11 seconds behind the winners.
Sunday’s race also marked the return to GT World Challenge America of multiple Mercedes-AMG GT3 race winning driver Daniel Morad as the new teammate of Brayton Williams in the No. 9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. Williams, Morad and the TR3 team persevered through an early-race contact incident to record a top-10 Pro-Am class finish.
The GT America powered by AWS series was also in action with a doubleheader at COTA. The best Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing result in the weekend’s twin 40-minute races was secured by returning series driver Dan Knox in the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. Knox battled in the front half of the field in both the Saturday and Sunday races, securing sixth place finishes both days.
In Pirelli GT4 America competition, the top result in Saturday’s three-hour race at twilight was a top-five Am-class finish by Eddie Killeen and team debuting driver Ron Tomlinson in the No. 37 Dome Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4. It was the sister No. 39 Dome Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Pro-Am contenders Marc Miller and Allen Patten, however, that nearly stole the show.
Starting from the class-pole position for the second-straight race, Patten and Miller battled up front the entire three hours. Miller was at the wheel for the run to the checkered flag and was putting heavy pressure on the Pro-Am leader in second place with just minutes to go. Unfortunately, a contact incident between the pair of overall and Pro-class leaders just ahead caught the fast-approaching Pro-Am contenders out and Miller got the worst of it. Contact damage in the aftermath ended the Dome team’s race but Miller and Patten were still classified with a ninth-place result.
Next up for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams in SRO America competition is Round 3 of the 2026 championship at Sebring International Raceway, May 8 – 10.
“No quit is an understatement for what this organization represents and the partners that are with us. We are very grateful for everybody that steps into these challenging weekends in full force. It was a challenging one. The conditions, then some penalties, but that is motorsport. We are here to learn from it, and we are here to keep pushing forward and to keep our eyes on the big picture. It is exceptionally important to capture as many points as you can at the forefront. You never know what will come in the future, so be present and execute.”
- Michai Stephens, Driver - No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3
"It was a lot of fun, and we just did our best to be as fast as we could and stay out of trouble. In that first stint, Jason and our Am competition had a really good battle. It was a good race, we had a good time, and the Mercedes-AMG GT3 came through as always. It was really exciting to see our car lead the race. We're shooting to try to run more races this year, and hopefully maybe pick up another one of these in GT World Challenge, because this is what we want to run. Our car is in good shape after this race. She's ready to go!"
- Marc Austin, Driver - No. 11 Mad Joker with Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
"It all kind of started in qualifying where we just had some bad luck with a red flag. A lot of cars put in their times before the red flag, but we were on a timed lap when it came out. So, that kind of put us on the back foot and Brayton was trying to race his way through the field. He was doing a solid job, but we had a little bit of a racing incident which set us back and the car had some front-end damage. After that, there were just no yellow flags, but the car is solid, the pace is good, and I think we have really strong team. Brayton is going to just keep getting stronger and stronger throughout the year, and the team itself is going to keep getting stronger and stronger from this point, and it is already one of the best teams on the grid. I'm looking forward to the rest of the year."
- Daniel Morad, Driver - No. 9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
"The competition is really better since the last time we raced here in GT America, which is good to see. The series has gotten better. It was a great race weekend but unfortunately we just missed the setup. We didn't have enough time testing with these tires on the car, but it was great for about the first 20 to 30 minutes. Then they started falling off really hard, and we probably would have had better results at the end, but I still enjoyed it. It was good to get back in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in SRO. I think everybody at Lone Star Racing did really well. The guys worked hard. They got everything going, but we just need that little bit more time with these tires and a setup for my purposes, but the guys did a great job. I am happy with the results with Lone Star Racing having two cars here, and I think SRO has been very happy to see us here back in the paddock again. We will see where it goes for the rest of the season."
- Dan Knox, Driver – No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
"It's unfortunate because these guys work really hard. We were in the race. We knew when it started to cool down the setup was going to come to us. We kind of struggled in the middle stint in the heat, but we knew it was going to come our way. We were just trying to get better track position, and if we had a little bit better track position we probably would have missed all of that in the end. That's just the way it goes, but I can't say enough for the guys on the team that put the car together, and Allen drove two really strong stints. We just have to come to Sebring and have two really strong races."
- Marc Miller, Driver - No. 39 Dome Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4
"It's just awesome to have the opportunity to drive with Marc and run with this team that gives us a competitive car. I'm lucky to have a driver like Marc to learn from because everyone saw what he did out there. I'm pretty motivated. I feel like I've had, like, a year and a half of bad luck if you look back to last year, so hopefully we just got it all out of the way and we can go have some good results at Sebring. I think the Mercedes-AMG GT4 is going to be great there. It's super compliant and that's what you need at Sebring."
- Allen Patten, Driver - No. 39 Dome Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4
Contacts:
Adam Saal, +1 321-890-2848, saalgoodpr@gmail.com
Andrew Brudnicki, +1 470-409-8048, andrew.brudnicki@mbusa.com