Strong Finish in 2018 Key to Future Success for Turner Motorsport

By IMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship has been a successful – albeit somewhat unorthodox – season in the GT Daytona (GTD) class for Turner Motorsport.

The longtime BMW program has a win this year – taking GTD honors in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen with drivers Dillon Machavern, Markus Palttala and Don Yount in the familiar, yellow and blue No. 96 BMM M6 GT3. The team is currently seventh in the overall season standings and will field co-drivers Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley in this Sunday’s two-hour, 40-minute America’s Tire 250 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

That’s the unorthodox part. The team’s driver lineup has featured different drivers at different events this season. Foley and Auberlen have been teammates for most of the sprint races, with Palttala, Machavern and Yount focused mostly on the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup rounds.

In fact, the team’s approach in 2018 somewhat resembles the way other teams might attack the 2019 season in GTD. Three different championships will be on the line next year, between the overall, 10-race WeatherTech Championship, the seven-race WeatherTech Sprint Cup that incorporates all GTD races two-hours and 40-minutes in length or shorter, and the four-race Michelin Endurance Cup.

“I’m all smiles and positive about the approach that’s being taken with the sprint series part of it,” said team owner Will Turner. “It definitely opens up some options for drivers that want to be in the series in GTD that don’t necessarily have the time to do all the races.

“That’s a big factor when people have jobs and families to balance. I think that those classes changes, the championship changes, are big.”

Before we get to next season, though, there’s the final two races of the 2018 WeatherTech Championship to contend with, starting with the America’s Tire 250 this weekend and wrapping up on Oct. 13 with the Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. And Turner can’t stress enough how important those two races will be for his program.

“As of today, I do not have my program filled for next year,” Turner said. “So, having strong results in the last couple of races does nothing but help me attract drivers who want to drive with the Turner Motorsport team or want to drive the BMW.

“My next year depends on some of these outcomes, not only is it the press you get from doing well, but it’s also just a sign of the car being competitive. I want to get out there and lead the race and win the next two races like everybody does.”

A win this weekend would be extra special because it would be Auberlen’s 59th in IMSA competition, putting him within one of all-time leader Scott Pruett’s total of 60. Helping Auberlen – whose long association with the Turner team was rekindled this year as he shifted from full-time status with the BMW Team RLL GT Le Mans (GTLM) team to Patrón Endurance Cup rounds only this season – break the all-time win record is a team goal.

“It’s interesting with Bill and the Turner Motorsport team because he started driving with us in 2000 or 2001 and he’s done a lot of races with us,” Turner said. “He knows all my crew, and my crew all knows him.

“It’s kind of like he never left. You get him back in the yellow and blue and back in the car and it’s the same old deal on the radio. It’s the same old Bill when he gets back to the transporter, always pushing the team for more. It’s good to have him back because we know what we’re dealing with.

“The crew actually works a little harder when he’s around because he wants to win races and we want to get him that record for sports car wins. It’s obviously a big deal for Bill, but I want to be a part of that. It would be great if we could be the team that he wins that and holds that record with.”

He’ll get another chance to do it this weekend at WeatherTech Raceway.

The America’s Tire 250 – the headline event of the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix weekend – will be televised live on Sunday, Sept. 9 beginning at 5 p.m. EDT on FS1. Live IMSA Radio coverage also will be available on IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and SiriusXM Radio (Sirius 119/XM 202/App 972). Tickets are available now at WeatherTechRaceway.com.