Will Turner of Turner Motorsport has recruited three BMW Motorsport drivers to join his two-car attack on the 2012 Grand Am Rolex 24 at Daytona, North America’s only 24-hour race.
Turner Motorsport will field a pair of BMW M3s for Turner regulars Bill Auberlen, Billy Johnson, Paul Dalla Lana, Michael Marsal, peripatetic pilot Boris Said, and BMW Motorsport shoes Dirk Mueller, Joerg Mueller and Dirk Werner.
“For the 50th Rolex 24 at Daytona I wanted to assemble the strongest BMW driver lineup I could,” said Turner in a press statement. “I think the Turner Motorsport roster stands on its own as one of the strongest ever. I want to thank BMW Motorsport for their support and assistance.
“Last year we ran strong in the opening hours of the race before gearbox problems set us back. This year we return with two M3s on the back of a very successful 2011 Grand-Am season that included two GT victories. With luck we will add the team’s biggest win to date.”
The 2012 team has a history of endurance-racing success. Auberlen and Said co-drove a BMW M3 to GT class wins at the Rolex 24 in 1997 and 1998, and Said was the first American driver to win the Nürburgring 24, in 2005. In 2012 Auberlen also shared third in the American Le Mans Series GT class with Dirk Werner, who won the Grand Am Rolex GT title in 2007 and 2009.
Joerg Mueller won his first 24-hour race at Spa for BMW in 1996, and has won the Nürburgring 24 twice, in 2004 and 2010.
Dirk Mueller co-drove with Joerg Mueller (and Hans Stuck) in the 2004 win, and has won three more 24-hour races for BMW: Silverstone and Dubai in 2007 and Dubai again in 2008. Mueller also won the 2011 ALMS GT drivers title (with co-driver Joey Hand.)
The other three members of the team are less experienced, but still race-tested and proven.
Paul Dalla Lana won the 2011 Grand Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge GS class for Turner Motorsport, besting Billy Johnson by nine points, and also won the 2011 BMW Sports Trophy for the most successful privateer BMW driver in the world. Dalla Lana’s efforts in the GS class helped bring Turner Motorsport the team title as well.
Billy Johnson, who has amassed more than 40 wins in the past six years of racing, finished second in the CTSCC GS class in 2011. He drove co-three races with Paul Dalla Lana for Turner Motorsport in 2011.
Michael Marsal ran his second full CTSCC season with Turner in 2011 and made two starts in the GT car. He finished second in GS points in 2010 with co-driver Joey Hand.
The 50th Anniversary Grand Am Rolex 24 at Daytona starts at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 28th.
