Philip Ellis has mirrored on his heart-stopping 175mph slide through the 2026 Rolex 24. The second occurred throughout a late-race conflict with Nicki Thiim whereas battling for the lead—a duel that in the end secured the GTD victory for Winward Racing.
The dramatic battle 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 vehicles 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 advised Motorsport.com. No stranger to spectacular incidents from his junior system years in Europe, Ellis admitted he would want a while to “let that one sink in.”
Regardless of the size 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 battle that I did not even discover,” he defined.
“I wasn’t actually conscious that we have 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 could be huge,” Ellis famous.
“However I’m completely happy we each continued with out additional incident. It was exhausting racing and we placed on an important present for the followers.”
He additionally confessed that Thiim’s resilience within the remaining levels 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 additional tempo or if being in my slipstream helped him that a lot, however I didn’t count on him to battle again so exhausting in these final quarter-hour.”
Warning towards Thiim modified little
Previous to the battle with Ellis, Ellis had already acquired a warning from IMSA for forcing Mattia Drudi’s #27 Coronary heart of Racing Aston Martin off-track. Nevertheless, Ellis was unaware of his rival’s state of affairs on the time.
“I had no concept, to be trustworthy. I solely knew I had a warning after our incident. However once more, that did not actually change a lot,” he mentioned.
When requested if realizing concerning the Dane’s prior warning would have altered his ways, Ellis remained skeptical. “I do not suppose 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 observe and never by way of penalties.”
“I believe that is what individuals come right here to look at. That’s why we see document crowds yearly. It’s what makes IMSA so particular.”
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