Philip Ellis has mirrored on his heart-stopping 175mph slide throughout the 2026 Rolex 24. The second occurred throughout a late-race conflict with Nicki Thiim whereas battling for the lead—a duel that finally secured the GTD victory for Winward Racing.
The dramatic struggle for the category win between the #57 Winward Mercedes-AMG and the #44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin reached its boiling level with simply ten minutes remaining when the 2 automobiles made contact on the quickest a part of the Daytona Worldwide Speedway.
“It was undoubtedly one of many wildest moments of my profession,” the 33-year-old instructed Motorsport.com. No stranger to spectacular incidents from his junior formulation years in Europe, Ellis admitted he would wish a while to “let that one sink in.”
Regardless of the dimensions of the second, Ellis confessed that the adrenaline of the duel meant he didn’t instantly grasp the hazard sitting behind the wheel.
“It wasn’t till the in-lap that I noticed I used to be lacking the mirror. I used to be so centered on the struggle that I did not even discover,” he defined.
“I wasn’t actually conscious that we had been so near a catastrophe that might have seen each of us DNF. In fact, neither of us would need that.”
Ellis admitted to misjudging the encounter, an transfer that resulted in a warning from race management.
“He had a run on me that I attempted to interrupt by placing the aspect draft on him. To be truthful, I didn’t understand he was already that near the wall. So, that one is on me—particularly at that velocity, the place the implications will be large,” Ellis famous.
“However I’m comfortable we each continued with out additional incident. It was laborious racing and we placed on an ideal present for the followers.”
He additionally confessed that Thiim’s resilience within the remaining phases caught him off guard. “I used to be very stunned that he caught with me like that,” the now three-time Rolex 24 winner added.
“I don’t know if he discovered further tempo or if being in my slipstream helped him that a lot, however I didn’t count on him to struggle again so laborious in these final quarter-hour.”
Warning towards Thiim modified little
Previous to the battle with Ellis, Ellis had already obtained a warning from IMSA for forcing Mattia Drudi’s #27 Coronary heart of Racing Aston Martin off-track. Nonetheless, Ellis was unaware of his rival’s scenario on the time.
“I had no thought, to be sincere. I solely knew I had a warning after our incident. However once more, that did not actually change a lot,” he stated.
When requested if figuring out concerning the Dane’s prior warning would have altered his ways, Ellis remained skeptical. “I do not assume so. IMSA could be very strict on blocking guidelines. I may need tried to bait him into blocking me a bit extra [when he was in front] to set off a penalty, however I’m glad we sorted it out on monitor and never through penalties.”
“I feel that is what individuals come right here to look at. That’s why we see report crowds yearly. It’s what makes IMSA so particular.”
Learn Additionally:
We would like your opinion!
What would you wish to see on Motorsport.com?
– The Motorsport.com Workforce
