First Year JMF Motorsports Co-Drivers Jason Daskalos and Lorcan Hanafin Emerged as the Top Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Team in Saturday’s Three-Hour GT World Challenge America Race with a Third-Place Pro-Am Showing in the No. 27 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3; Marc Miller and Allen Patten Finally Broke Through for First Pirelli GT4 America Podium in the No. 39 Dome Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4 with a Second-Place Pro-Am Finish in Friday’s 60-Minute Race
First-year co-drivers Jason Daskalos and Lorcan Hanafin stepped up to carry the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing flag – and team honors for JMF Motorsports – in a chaotic and crushing final hour of Saturday’s three-hour GT World Challenge America powered by AWS race at Sebring International Raceway. After leading in Pro-Am several times throughout the 180-minute race into twilight, Hanafin ultimately crossed the finish line third in class in the No. 27 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the team’s best result of the season in the opening trio of races to date.
For a time, it appeared the No. 27 team and its Pro-class championship leading teammates Mikael Grenier and Michai Stephens were in line for a two-class sweep. In addition to Daskalos and Hanafin leading and battling up front in Pro-Am, the pole-starting No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Stephens and race closer Grenier dominated the Pro class and overall running order in the race’s first two hours.
Heartbreak hit with 45 minutes remaining, however, when Grenier slowed with an oil leak while leading the field by well over 20 seconds. The Pro class winners of the year’s opening races at Sonoma Raceway and Circuit of The Americas (COTA) reluctantly retired from the race as clearing the course of the No. 34 and the track safety team’s related clean up brought out the only yellow flag of the race.
With the field packed up for the restart, the green flag waved with just under 30 minutes remaining. Hanafin, in his Sebring career debut, was up front in Pro-Am only to be crowded out of the lead by another competitor attempting a pass. Losing the lead and, momentarily, his momentum, Hanafin quickly recovered but could only climb back to fourth in class at the checkered flag. The No. 27, however, was elevated to P3 when a timed “incident responsibility” penalty was assessed to the entry that forced Hanafin offline and out of the lead just after the restart.
Despite a tinge of disappointment for coming so close to not one but two victories, the JMF team celebrated its first podium success with Daskalos and Hanafin after a pair of challenging races to open the season at Sonoma and COTA. The No. 34 team and drivers also remain in the Pro class championship lead with a five-point advantage on the strength of the double victories to open the year. Four race weekends remain on the 2026 calendar, including the season-ending and double-points Indianapolis 8 Hour Intercontinental GT Challenge race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in October.
In Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing competition in the Pirelli GT4 America doubleheader at Sebring, the No. 39 Dome Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4 team of co-drivers Marc Miller and Allen Patten once again stepped up to race among the leaders. This time, however, the always quick No. 39 team and drivers left with something to show for it after securing a second-place Pro-Am class result in Friday's first 60-minute race.
Patten started from his third-straight Pro-Am pole position and joined closing driver Miller in battling for the race win from start to finish. The sprint came down to a multi-class battle within the overall top five – similar to a late scrum that knocked Miller out of the most recent race in COTA through no fault of his – but this time he was able to take the fight to the finish. Miller took the checkered flag second in Pro-Am, just .766 of a second behind the class winners, for the No. 39 team's first podium in just its fourth GT4 America race. Miller and Patten followed the breakout podium run with a fourth-place finish in Saturday's final 60-minute race to leave Sebring with the team's best race results of the year and a renewed outlook on the overall GT4 Pro-Am class championship.
Next up for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams in SRO America is the new race weekend event at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, June 12 – 14, where GT World Challenge America powered by AWS and Pirelli GT4 America will be among the highlight racing series. The Road Atlanta weekend marks the mid-season point of both the GT World Challenge America and Pirelli GT4 America championships.
"It has been a rough year, leading every race into a pit stop and then just having some bad luck. Today again, and leading again, we had some bad luck, but that was a penalty for someone else. Lorcan is doing a great job, and we will just keep pushing forward and move on. The JMF Motorsport team is amazing. The car is definitely hooked up. We still have some things to work through, but I can't say enough good things about JMF."
Jason Daskalos, Driver - No. 27 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3
"We had a really difficult start to the weekend, lots of issues, and it was my first time here. Not exactly the baptism of fire that I had anticipated. To be on the podium is just a testament to the team, and Jason has done a fantastic job all year. Glad to be on the podium. It is a shame it's only P3 and not a win, but it swings and roundabouts – this is motorsport – and we will get there in the end."
Lorcan Hanafin, Driver - No. 27 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3
"This one stings. It cuts at the heartstrings, as I believe it rightfully should. Everyone put in a podium effort, at a minimum, but it's the nature of motorsport that it's beauty and the beast. We are very grateful to be here, very grateful to still be learning and be in these partnerships with Mercedes-AMG and everybody else onboard. These are the days that make you stronger, and we will continue to put one foot in front of the other and never lose sight of our goals."
Michai Stephens, Driver - No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3
"It was pretty tight there at the end, but our focus was on the Pro-Am win. It's easy to get collected in the overall battle as we saw in COTA, and by no fault on our end. It happens easily when guys get a little racy. It can happen, so I was a little extra careful. I wanted to win, and the team deserves a win, and we certainly are owed one or two or even three, but we also needed a finish. Getting on the podium was clutch. It was imperative, we really can't be off the podium anymore this year, and we have the pace to do it. The entire team deserves a finish way more than anything else, and they gave us a car with a pace that was really good. We've got a great driver lineup, and Allen is just stellar and has three poles in a row. He had a great first stint, and honestly, if we weren't just a little too conservative on our pit stop time, we probably would have come out in the lead and been able to battle for the win. That would have been a much better situation for us, but it was a good battle and super tight. It was a great first-time podium for the No. 39 team this year, so we're pretty happy with it. A big, big thanks to all the guys that work their butts off to put the car where it is and be so competitive."
Marc Miller, Driver - No. 39 Dome Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4
"It's just been bad luck after bad luck across multiple series for me this season, so it's good to finally get a result and just have a nice clean race. Big credit to our main competitors, we had some good racing that was super close. So that was awesome, super fun. We knew we were going to struggle a little bit in the heat, but honestly the car was amazing. The heat issues we had were just Sebring being Sebring, but the Dome team gave us the car to compete with. They are just an awesome group of people, and they bust their butts every single day, so you can't ask for more than that."
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