Amesbury, Mass. – August 15, 2011 -- Turner Motorsport drivers Bill Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana finished fifth in Saturday evening's Canadian Tire 200 at The Glen, the tenth of twelve races in this season's GRAND AM Rolex Sports Car Series. They drove 93 laps of the 2.45-mile, 11-turn Watkins Glen short course in the two hour race with Auberlen recording the second fastest GT race lap (1:13.637 minutes) on lap 90.

The race reunited the duo in the No. 94 BMW M3 for the first time since the Six Hours of The Glen in June with Auberlen unavailable for the previous three and the final two Rolex races due to other BMW commitments. Dalla Lana stands ninth in GT driver points, only 21 points separating him from the leaders.

Teammates Joey Hand and Michael Marsal finished seventeenth after an electrical gremlin slowed the new No. 93 M3 and dropped them down the running order.

"Two important races bookend one week so it was important to race hard at the Glen, but also to race smart as we want Paul to finish strong in the GT driver points," said Will Turner, team principal. "To stay out of trouble and call the correct fuel strategy were the keys for us. Paul drove a very strong first stint - running as high as fourth - with the leaders always in sight. We had a fast pit stop to get Bill in and were looking at a podium finish, but unfortunately for us two of our competitors were able to run much longer than the rest of the class on fuel so we had to settle for fifth. The No. 94 M3 was fast as Bill proved with the second fastest race lap only three from the end. Despite the poor finish for Marsal and Hand in the No. 93 M3 due to electrical problems, it was great that Michael was able to get more seat time in the GT class."

With only the final Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race remaining on September 17 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Auberlen and Dalla Lana now hold a 21 point lead in GS Driver points and Turner Motorsport has a 26 point advantage in Team points. Michael Marsal moves into a tie for sixth in Driver points.


Videos

Pre-race Interview: Will Turner discusses qualifying


Images



By the Numbers

No. 94 BMW M3 (Auberlen/Dalla Lana) - Qualified P8, Finish P5
Laps Completed = 93

No. 93 BMW M3 (Hand/Marsal) - Qualified P12, Finish P17
Laps Completed = 88

Point Standings

Rolex GT
  - Team: Turner Motorsport (5)
  - Driver: Auberlen/Dalla Lana (9)
  - Manufacturer: BMW (4)

Next Televised Race:

Next up for Turner Motorsport is the Montreal 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on August 19 – 20. The two-hour race will take the green flag at 11:15 a.m. ET Saturday, Aug. 20 and be broadcast on SPEED at 7:00 p.m. ET that evening.

About Turner Motorsport

Turner Motorsport is the leading BMW tuner in North America, bringing technology and expertise from the racetrack to the street. Turner Motorsport is not about clever marketing tricks or gimmicks. Racetrack results speak themselves. The Turner Motorsport team has won six professional racing championships in two different series since 2003. This storied success is passed into every component that Turner Motorsport designs and sells through their website catalog. Our race team, R&D engineers and Sales team work together, allowing practical knowledge and state-of-the-art engineering to flow in both directions. Few companies in North America can claim such a close relationship to what they sell and what they race.

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2011 ROLEX SERIES SCHEDULE

Television coverage by

August 19-20 | Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, QC
September 16-17 | Mid Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, OH

The SPEED Channel will provide TV broadcast for all Rolex GT races, and tape delay coverage for Continental Tire Challenge races throughout the year. Stay tuned to TMSRacing.com or SPEEDTV.com for broadcast dates and times.

Links

TurnerMotorsport.com - Parts, Performance & Service Parts for BMWs
H&R Springs - Premium Quality Suspension Components
StopTech Brakes - Experts in High Performance Brakes
MOTUL Lubricants - Race-proven Oil and Lubrication Products
Borla Exhaust - The World's Most Winning Exhaust
Escort - Radar Detectors & Laser Detectors
Spy Optic - Sunglasses, Snow and MX Goggles

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