Turner Motorsport ready to return to action at Birmingham

Turner Motorsport Back in GRAND AM Action at Barber Motorsports Park

#94 TURNER MOTORSPORT BMW M3: BILL AUBERLEN, PAUL DALLA LANA

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

Amesbury, Mass. – March 28th, 2012 --- Turner Motorsport will be back on track at Barber Motorsports Park, in Birmingham, Ala., on March 29 – 31 for Round 2 of the 2012 GRAND AM Series. Both the Rolex Sports Car and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) series will race following a two-month break in the schedule after the season-opening races at the 50th Rolex 24 at Daytona weekend.

Over the past three years of competition at the sinuous Barber circuit the experienced Turner team has developed quite an affinity for the track's 2.3 miles and 17 turns. In both Rolex GT and CTSCC Grand Sports (GS) competition the blue and yellow liveried Turner Motorsport M3s have tallied one victory, two seconds, a fifth and two sixth place finishes.

In last year's CTSCC Barber 200 Bill Auberlen and eventual GS driver's champion Paul Dalla Lana finished second. Michael Marsal, co-driving with Joey Hand, finished sixth. In 2010, Marsal and Hand finished third with Auberlen and Dalla Lana two positions back in fifth.

Joining Rolex Sports Car GT competition in 2010, Turner Motorsport drivers finished sixth in their first race at Barber. Last year Auberlen and Dalla Lana took their second consecutive victory of the season at Barber in the No. 94 BMW M3.

This year Auberlen and Dalla Lana continue to co-drive both the No. 96 GS class M3 and the No. 94 GT class M3. Michael Marsal has been joined by longtime BMW driver Boris Said in the No. 97 GS class M3 this season. No stranger to Turner Motorsport, Said drove with Dalla Lana in the CTSCC finale at Mid-Ohio last year to help clinch the team and driver's titles. At the BMW Performance 200 at Daytona International Speedway in January Marsal and Said began their season with a strong sixth place finish. Auberlen and Dalla Lana finished right behind their teammates in seventh.

"We have had great success at Barber," said Will Turner. "Last year was especially good with Bill and Paul taking the GT victory and only narrowly missing the GS win. Both races at Daytona showed the BMWs have started the 2012 season with a less than favorable rules package, but the tight layout of the Barber circuit should favor the agility of our cars over the outright speed of our competitors."

"The team has been busy testing and improving the cars since Daytona, I think they have made some good strides" said Bill Auberlen."Paul Dalla Lana loves Barber so I am really looking forward to Saturdays races . Both of them!"