Philip Ellis: "A childhood dream come true"
DTM AS MERCEDES DRIVER Switzerland has a second representative alongside Nico Müller in the new DTM 2021, which will be contested with GT3 sports cars. Philip Ellis makes his debut with a US-German Mercedes customer team. And then everything happened very quickly. At the end of January at the 24 Hours of Daytona, Philip Ellis was one of the standout drivers in the GTD category for GT3 sports cars. Of course [...]
And then everything happened very quickly. At the end of January at the 24 Hours of Daytona, Philip Ellis was one of the standout drivers in the GTD category for GT3 sports cars.
Of course, victories in endurance races are a team affair. But it was not least thanks to him that the German-American team Winward Racing came to triumph at the first attempt after Ellis had defended the lead for hours until the finish against stubborn rivals.
Caught your eye at the right moment
This did not go unnoticed by decision-makers. The son of a Welshman and a German, who lives in Baar and studies in Lucerne (with interruptions), has been an official Mercedes-AMG contract driver for a few days now. And in this capacity, he will compete for his trusted customer team in the 2021 DTM.
Philip Ellis: "Before Daytona it was very quiet for me, it looked like the same program as 2020. After about two weeks, everything happened very quickly. But DTM wasn't a big topic yet."
Americans and Germans
Team WINWARD Racing (WWR) was formed by the merger of the Houston, Texas-based racing team of the same name, whose team owner Bryce Ward and his son Russell are or were Ellis' GT4 racing partners in the USA, and the German partner HTP Motorsport. Team principal is the German Christian Hohenadel.
Under the bid of Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD, two factory-supported Mercedes-AMG GT3s will roll to the starting line. Because each driver must have professional status and there are no driver changes, the DTM stands out from other GT3 series even after the category change.
Ellis' teammate is 26-year-old Lucas Auer from Kufstein. The Tyrolean brings with him the experience of five DTM seasons in which he scored five race wins and nine pole positions in 73 starts.
Strong Swiss bond
Ellis will start, as he did last year - although this was not noticed at some races and he was "sold" as a Brit - with a Swiss license. The Swiss cross will also be next to his name on the car and, as in Daytona, on the overall.
The only difference between the racing driver, who has lived mainly in the canton of Zug for more than 20 years and speaks a perfect dialect, and a Swiss citizen is that he does not have a red passport. He has asked the authorities, but the naturalization process is currently taking too long for him. So for the time being, he is sticking with British-German citizenship, even though he feels completely Swiss.
Ellis first attracted attention in Germany in 2011, when he won the LO Formula Lista as a racing rookie. It goes without saying that ten years later he is looking forward to the highlight of his career to date.
Philip Ellis: "Yes, I see myself as the second Swiss next to Nico Müller in the DTM. It was a childhood dream. Even when I raced in the Audi TT Cup supporting program in 2017 and won the title, I looked up to the DTM drivers. Now I'm part of it myself, including Mercedes' DTM comeback. It's like a birthday and Christmas together."
Valuable GT3 experience
The 28-year-old Swiss by choice does not consider competing as a DTM rookie a disadvantage at all.
Philip Ellis: "Of all this year's DTM drivers, I'm certainly one with the most GT3 experience after three years in the ADAC GT Masters. It also means I'm very familiar with the Mercedes, to which very few changes are made due to the regulations. I'm looking forward to getting my own car now and not having to make any more compromises."
Late season start
DTM 2021 consists of eight events in Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands. A 55-minute sprint race will be held on Saturday and Sunday.
After several days of testing over the next few weeks, the season opener will not take place until June 18-20 in Monza. All races will be televised live by SAT.1. If the Swiss play a role in the title, as was the case with Nico Müller in 2019 and 2020, Swiss TV could also show interest again.
