The Grand-Am Rolex Series saw the first win of the season on 9 June in the GT category by the BMW M3 of Turner Motorsport, a team supported technically by Motul. Winning the race was however not a foregone conclusion for Bill Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana, who secured 8th time in the trials.
Dalla Lana took the start of this 2h45 race and moved forward a few places before passing the relay to Auberlen who, one hour later, was in the lead. The BMW again lost a few places in the last series of stops, but the Californian driver once more took the lead and managed to hold off the assaults by Jeff Segal's Ferrari to cross the arrival line less than one second ahead. This result confirms the regularity of the tandem which, in the previous three races, had secured 5th place each time. For Will Turner, 'This circuit loves us and we love this circuit! Turner Motorsport, BMW and Mid-Ohio form a winning combination. By coming here, I was sure we'd obtain a good result.'
During this event, Motul also supported APR Motorsport, which finished in 13th position with its Audi R8. The car and the team did well, but a bad combination of circumstances did not allow them to demonstrate all their capacities. 'We shall continue our fine-tuning work to be ready for Road America!' affirmed von Moltke. The Road America meet is scheduled on 23 June.
Earlier in the day, APR Motorsport also took part in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, Nate Norenberg and Josh Hurley managing to place their VW Golf GTI in 6e place of their category, a fine performance after having left in 24th position.
Results:
1// Turner Motorsport (BMW) - Motul
2// AIM Autosport (Ferrari)
3// Stevenson Motorsport (Chevrolet)
…
8/ APR Motorsport (Audi) - Motul
Standings:
1// AIM Autosport (185 pts)
2// Stevensen Motorsport (174 pts)
3// Magnus Racing (168 pts)
…
5// Turner Motorsport (157 pts) - Motul
Photo credit: Turner Motorsport
