Mercedes-Benz USA and Mercedes-AMG announced today that it will compete in North America’s premier endurance racing series for the first time.

The Mercedes-AMG Customer Sports Program will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with several top teams. For the upcoming 2017 IMSA season, Mercedes-AMG is partnering with the successful Riley Motorsports team, which will campaign two Mercedes- AMG GT3 race cars. The AMG Customer Sports team SunEnergy1 Racing will also campaign an AMG GT3 in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Additional teams are scheduled to announce their intent to race as AMG Customer Sports teams in advance of the 2017 season. Mercedes-AMG will be on-site at each race throughout the 2017 race calendar to provide comprehensive technical assistance for all Mercedes-AMG GT3 Customer Sports Teams.

With the entry in the popular series, Mercedes-AMG enhances its motorsport presence within the US market. Previously, the Mercedes-AMG brand was successfully represented in the US only by private race teams with the SLS AMG GT3 in the Pirelli World Challenge.

All AMG Customer Sports teams in the US will race the latest version of the naturally-aspirated, 6.3-liter V8 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in  2017.