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 combat 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 advised Motorsport.com. No stranger to spectacular incidents from his junior components years in Europe, Ellis admitted he would wish 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 targeted on the combat 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 facet draft on him. To be honest, I didn’t understand he was already that near the wall. So, that one is on me—particularly at that pace, the place the implications will be huge,” Ellis famous.
“However I’m completely satisfied we each continued with out additional incident. It was arduous racing and we placed on an important present for the followers.”
He additionally confessed that Thiim’s resilience within the remaining phases caught him off guard. “I used to be very shocked 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 anticipate him to combat again so arduous in these final quarter-hour.”
Warning in opposition to 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 understanding in regards to the Dane’s prior warning would have altered his techniques, Ellis remained skeptical. “I do not suppose so. IMSA may be very strict on blocking guidelines. I might 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 through penalties.”
“I feel that is what folks come right here to observe. That’s why we see document crowds yearly. It’s what makes IMSA so particular.”
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