IMSA WEATHERTECH SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP: 1 MOBILE TWELVE HOURS OF SEBRING

March 21, 2026

Klaus Bachler

Phil Fayer

Ricky Feller

Mikkel Jensen

Hunter McElrea

Thomas Preining

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We have our LMP2 and GTD PRO here.

We'll open with our LMP2. Phil Fayer, Mikkel Jensen and Hunter McElrea.

Phil, why don't you start us off. First win. What does it mean to you to get it here at the 12 Hours of Sebring?

PHIL FAYER: We did so much work to get here. I had to do GT4 races when I came back. First race last year was at Mosport. Overwhelming in terms of all the things you have to pick up to.

I loved every minute of it. I'm blessed to be here. The race started a little bit difficult, but I enjoyed every minute behind the wheel. Sebring is such a special track.

THE MODERATOR: Mikkel, you know what it's like to win here, but I can't imagine it ever gets old.

MIKKEL JENSEN: No, I mean, you come back every year, you want to repeat this thing. It's an amazing race. There's so much going on out there. It's unbelievable how the GTs are trying to use us to play their game against the competitors. It's actually the hardest thing here I would say.

Then the track just gets different every year, more bumps arriving. It gets fixed in places, some not. You always experience new bumps when you go off the line passing a GT. It's always a challenge at night at the end when you have to find your way through traffic and find your competitors at the same time.

Winning Sebring is amazing, to be with Hunter, we did it in the past years together, but now we're here with Phil. It's just a good win on top of a tough Daytona.

THE MODERATOR: As Mikkel alluded to, you won three of the last four races going back to last year, with Indianapolis and Motul Petit Le Mans. Talk about the relationship you and Mikkel have built.

HUNTER McELREA: It's nice. It's obviously a lot of different things. Different philosophies, different surroundings. But obviously Mikkel and I have been together for the last two seasons prior to this.

Yeah, endurance has been a new journey for me, something that obviously I wasn't used to. I probably understand I'm in a very lucky position to have won almost half the races I've done in IMSA. It's probably not normal (smiling). Just lucky to be beside such a strong driver to learn from.

On top of that, to be next to Phil, too, without him none of us would be sitting here. First Sebring, first win. It's not possible without him making zero mistakes, executing his stints, giving us a good car.

Yeah, team effort. Obviously hats off to United. The car came alive right when we needed it to. Very happy to be sitting here and finally get this win.

THE MODERATOR: We'll slide over to our GTD PRO winners, Thomas Preining, Klaus Bachler, Ricky Feller.

Thomas, first win, big win for the team here. What did it take to pull it off?

THOMAS PREINING: First of all, big thanks to the team. It's been a Hercules effort for them to come all the way from Europe to be able to drive in the first place at all. Then obviously try to drive well and quick, at the front. Then obviously in the second start now to pull it off and win the race, which is really special.

Big, big teamwork necessary today. Very difficult race. Difficult to always have the right strategy, to position yourself for the end when it counts. To also have the car quick when it counts has been kind of the challenge of the week, let's say, to find the right setup.

I think obviously we did a good enough job at least. Yeah, cannot complain. Really good.

THE MODERATOR: Klaus, three wins in a row. What is it about this place that seems to agree with you and your driving style?

KLAUS BACHLER: Yeah, also big thanks to the team because without the team, it's not possible.

Yeah, I mean, I'm really speechless. I really hoped we can win this race after a tough Daytona, I have to say. I had such a good feeling going into this week. Yeah, in the end it worked out. We were fast when it counted. We had the car which we had zero problems. I mean, really reliable everything. Perfect stops. Perfect strategy.

Both of my teammates drove really brilliant, zero mistakes. In the end Thomas went for the move. He took the lead with one and a half hours to go and stayed there. Yeah, was not easy to watch because, I mean, especially the last safety car when it came, you never know what is happening at the restart. Have enough IMSA experience that everything is possible.

But luckily, I mean, he did again a great restart and he could win this race. Very proud of the whole team, of my teammates.

THE MODERATOR: Ricky, this is the first win for yourself, but also for the Grello Porsche, which is an iconic livery globally. Can you talk about what it means to you to bring that car here, win here, especially against another car with another livery that gets a lot of attention?

RICKY FELLER: Yeah, it makes me very, very proud. It's something special within all the Porsche cars. Every Porsche driver wants to drive it. Of course, if you win a race with it, it's already great. Now this is the beginning of a new chapter for the Grello in the U.S. That's the first victory. I'm pretty sure it won't be the last one.

THE MODERATOR: Back to questions.

Q. Thomas, can you talk about the battle with the AO car. It seemed like you pulled away quite a bit after you were able to get into Harry.

THOMAS PREINING: Yes, I got him at the restart with one and a half hours to go in turn one. After that I knew we had a fuel or energy disadvantage. I had to go all in. Every lap was a quallie lap until the last pit stop.

I think the safety car would have been quite painful then, but in the end everything happened in the right way for us at the end. We were able to play our cards really well. We needed quick car, which we had. In the end, like I said, everything went perfectly.

Q. It appeared on TV that both United cars had contact a little bit. Was that the case late in the race or no?

MIKKEL JENSEN: Yeah a lot of times. So I was unlucky with the GTs, catching them always in turn three. The only way for me to protect myself was just slowing down in turn three and four when nobody can pass you, then get my better run out of five.

I got hit in the rear in turn three maybe three, four times.

Q. Was it your car that had to do the wing change or...

MIKKEL JENSEN: I don't think so.

Q. You didn't have any damage?

MIKKEL JENSEN: Yeah, yeah (smiling).

Q. What does it mean, this is the first 1-2 finish for the team in IMSA history, for the team in IMSA? What does that mean for United?

MIKKEL JENSEN: It means a lot. I mean, it's my second race with the team. Obviously we'll be with them for the Hypercar project with McLaren.

It's a great start to the journey to already be winning my second race with them and to see the team perform with a 1-2 finish here. I'm really proud to see that because we had some issues in Daytona to be up front on the pace, and also here in practice we didn't really look to be the strongest guys.

I think we were surprised about our pace throughout the whole race. We had a fast car. The sister car was fast. Just super happy for the package that the team put together and made us able to be 1-2 today.

Q. After all the success in Europe, how important was it for Grello to be successful quickly here in America?

RICKY FELLER: Yeah, I mean, it's very important. In the end we all come here to win. Daytona was not very on our side, especially in the end. Now I'm very happy that it turned out because, like Tommy said, there's a lot of work behind the scenes.

It's not so easy for a German team to get all the people here, to get all the equipment here, to compete against teams that know the structure in IMSA, which is kind of very different to what we're used in Europe. It's not so easy to compete against them.

I think we or the team did a great job with that.

THE MODERATOR: You guys are tied for the points lead. Are you going to lobby to get to Laguna Seca?

KLAUS BACHLER: Yeah, we need to speak after this (smiling).

Q. Did you think it's a realistic possibility or no?

KLAUS BACHLER: Don't think so. The manager is standing behind there (smiling).

Q. (Question regarding mascot outfits.)

THOMAS PREINING: In the end it's mascots that mechanics have ideas to make them. We need to speak to them, if you want them to dress differently for each race, fitting the local dress codes, I'm sure we can manage.

THE MODERATOR: Beachwear for Laguna?

THOMAS PREINING: I don't know what you wear in Watkins Glen, but we'll dress them accordingly.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, guys.