Podium finish for Marsal at Road America

Elkhart Lake, Wis. - Michael Marsal had yet another busy and productive day of racing on Saturday in the VISITFLORIDA.COM Sports Car 250 event at Road America as he pulled double duty -driving the Turner Motorsport No. 93 BMW M3 in Rolex Series competition and the No. 71 Aston Martin Vantage in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.

It was a productive day, as he had a strong drive in the Aston Martin before going on to score his first GRAND-AM podium of the season when he and Turner Motorsport co-driver Maxime Martin drove the No. 93 BMW to a third place finish.

#93 Turner Motorsport BMW M3: Maxime Martin, Michael Marsal

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

In his first Rolex Series start at Road America with the Turner Motorsport team, Marsal used his knowledge of the track to gain two spots in the first few laps. Contact from another car on the fourth lap sent him for a quick spin and saw his charge to the front slowed, but Marsal quickly recovered and kept his composure as well as his spot in the top-10.

“I was really bummed about that spin,” said Marsal, “the car was feeling really great during my stint and I think if not for that hiccup I could have gained even more ground.”

Fortunately, co-driver Martin managed to make up for the minimal amount of ground lost with a charge to the front in the final hour of the race. The last five minutes of the race saw a tight battle for the podium with Martin driving all out to give the No. 93 car a third place finish and a double-podium for Turner Motorsport.

“Max did a great job and I’m so glad he could make up for the small problem early on,” added Marsal. “It has just been a great day and a great weekend for the No. 93 and for the No. 94. I couldn’t be happier.”

It’s hard to believe this weekend’s Road America event marked Marsal’s first green flag laps ever in the Multimatic Motorsports No. 71 Aston Martin Vantage at Road America given his strong performance that saw him running as high as fourth place through much of his opening stint in the CTSCC race which was held just ahead of the Rolex Series event.

Though he may have taken his first green flag laps in the Aston Martin on Saturday, he is no stranger to the challenging four-mile road course. In fact, he first got his start in racing with the Skip Barber racing school at the famous Road America circuit.

Following repairs to the car from a testing accident, the Multimatic Motorsports No. 71 Aston Martin Vantage was unable to qualify and started the race at the back of the pack. But Marsal quickly made his way up the order, expertly navigating all the way up to fourth place after two early cautions in the first eight laps of the race.

“The green flag was my first time ever doing a green flag lap in this car at this track,” said Marsal,” who generated scores of high fives and congratulations from the crew after his big stint. “So I wasn’t really sure where the braking points were or how far I could track out with the car. So I was a little bit conservative at the start. But the car was really good and we were able to move up. Thanks to the Multimatic guys for all the hard work.”

Marsal remained in the car for an hour and 20 minutes and ran in the fourth position for about 10 laps before handing the Aston Martin over to Multimatic co-driver Tonis Kasemets who would take 14th at the finish.

Marsal will return to GRAND-AM action next weekend at Kansas Speedway.

Turner Motorsport