With the five-month racing hiatus finally nearing it’s end, the Turner Motorsport team is anxious and poised for a strong return to the track following the solid sixth place finish in the Rolex 24 at Daytona back in January.
Drivers Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley will jump behind the wheel of their BMW M6 GT3 to compete in the IMSA Weathertech 240 at Daytona next Saturday night, July Fourth. The race will substitute for round two of the 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The Turner BMW M6 GT3 will display the red, white and blue Liqui Moly Livery from the Rolex 24 with stars and stripes incorporated to celebrate the holiday weekend with all its familiar partners including H&R Springs, LMC, Hilliard, Pagid, Sachs and Hengst.
The Liqui Moly BMW of Auberlen and Foley will face off against the fierce competition of a 12-car GTD field on the 3.56-mile 12 turn road course at Daytona International Speedway in the two-hour and forty-minute event.
Auberlen is no stranger to success at Daytona with two Grand-Am GT wins and two wins in the Rolex 24 Hour as well as several wins behind the wheel of Turner BMWs in Grand AM GS class. Auberlen is also just one win away from the all time North America Sportscar win record, currently tied with Scott Pruett.
“I am eager to get back to racing, I don’t think I have gone this long without racing since before I can even remember,” said Bill Auberlen. “With the strong finish to 2019 and a solid performance in the Rolex 24 at Daytona it has been very difficult sitting on the sidelines so long before getting back to racing.”
“I have been working out and running to keep in shape as much as I can so I totally recharged and ready to go racing,” added Auberlen.”
Auberlen is not the only member of the Turner Motorsport squad eager to get back to racing action.
“I can’t believe it’s been 5 months or so since Daytona and the kick off of the 2020 season,” added Robby Foley. “Luckily we have bad lots of iRacing to keep busy with and keep our muscle memory in check. I has been pretty cool to participate in all the virtual events and everything with IMSA and to see the fan interaction but I am very much looking forward to getting back to the real thing.” Will Turner looks forward to returning to after an almost flawless race in January.
“We left Daytona in January with a 6th place finish but never really had a chance to win. IMSA got the balance of performance wrong (“BOP”) for our BMW and 2 other manufacturers. The Audi , the Lambo and the Porsche could go at least 2 laps more than our BMW on each full tank of fuel, giving them an huge advantage over the 24hours .”
Turner adds, “All we wanted when we left Daytona was another chance with an equal BOP. Who would have thought that the Corona virus would allow us that chance! IMSA has had 160 days since the race to look over the data, and make necessary BOP adjustments. I am confident that this race will be one of the most exciting in IMSA history because the IMSA Competition department has all the data to come up with the perfect BOP. I am predicting the closest race finish in IMSA history”
The on-track action will officially begin at Daytona on Friday at 6:05pm with the first practice followed by a full day of on track activity on Saturday beginning with practice and qualifying. GTD qualifying takes the green flag at 1:55pm ET.
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship qualifying will be live on IMSA.TV at 1:55pm ET followed by the WeatherTech 240 at Daytona televised live on NBC Sports Network from 6:00pm ET to 9:00pm ET. The race can also be found on NBC Sports Golds Trackpass where you can stream it all.