Turner M3s head west for inaugural Austin weekend

Amesbury, MA. – After a less-than-desirable start to the 2013 season at Daytona, Turner Motorsport heads west in hopes of redemption in a fresh start at the newest F1 circuit in Austin, Texas this weekend. The team will return to the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) after being first introduced to the technical 3.427-mile 20-turn circuit back in December when the team tested.

The familiar duo of Bill Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana will again pilot the No. 94 M3 in the two- and-three-quarter hour GRAND-AM of The Americas presented by GAINSCO and TOTAL Rolex race on Saturday afternoon. The No. 93 machine will be driven by Michael Marsal and Gunter Schaldach. The two Turner BMW M3s have been completely revived after the disappointing results at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona in January; in hopes of a more balanced 16 car GT field at COTA.

"We are excited to race at a new track – especially one as cool at COTA but after the lack of competitiveness we experienced with our BMWs at Daytona, compared to the competition, we are somewhat worried. Grand Am has done very little to even out the playing field. Am I bitter? totally. It's disappointing that the GT class was so unbalanced at Daytona. All we ask for is a fair fight," said Will Turner.

In December, Marsal gained valuable track time when he tested both the BMW and Aston Martin machines at the state-of-the-art circuit. "Circuit of the Americas is an incredible track – it is very technical, and there are some corner combinations that are pretty unusual," said Marsal of the new facility. "It is really wide–enough room to go four wide on the straight, which could get interesting going into the really big braking zones. So I think it is going to make for a good race. It is a wide open track, but there are also a lot of things to hit so it's not like you can just go off without any consequences. It is different from any other track that we have in the States."

In Continental Sports Car Challenge competition Bill Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana will get behind the wheel of the No. 96 GS M3 for the two and a half hour Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race Saturday morning. The duo was inundated with a bit of bad luck and unprovoked mechanical failure in the BMW Performance 200 at Daytona last month. Both Dalla Lana and Auberlen look forward to a spirited race in the large 31-car GS field this weekend.

"COTA is an amazing track, we tested here which hopefully will give us an advantage. The team has been working hard since Daytona to give me the best cars possible. I am ready to go racing!" Said Bill Auberlen.

Turner Motorsports