TURNER MOTORSPORT TAKES GTD CLASS VICTORY AT LIME ROCK PARK NORTHEAST GRAND PRIX

July 28, 2015 by BMW

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – July 27, 2015 . . . Dane Cameron and Michael Marsal, driving the No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW Z4, scored BMW's first GTD class victory of the 2015 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season at Lime Rock Park, in Lakeville, Conn. The duo completed 162 laps of the 1.5-mile, 7-turn road course (the race utilized the uphill chicane) in the two-hour-and-forty-minute race, finishing 3.505 seconds ahead of the No. 33 Dodge Viper of Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating.

Turner Motorsport came very close to not making the start after a practice crash on Friday by Marsal made for a late night and even earlier morning of repair work by the crew at a local body shop. Missing the qualifying session, Marsal started at the rear of the 17-car field composed of PC and GTD cars. He drove a strong first stint to stay on the lead lap before handing off to Dane Cameron, the 2014 GTD driver's champion, who was available to drive this weekend because the DP class he races this season was not part of the event. Cameron moved into the class lead on lap 105 and stayed out front to take the checkered flag on lap 162 for Turner Motorsport's first win of the season. The Californian set a new race record with the fast lap of the race (53.695 seconds) on lap 79.

Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge

After the green flag waved in Saturday's two-hour Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race at Lime Rock Park, in Lakeville, Conn. it took only 59 seconds for the first caution period to occur. Unfortunately, the cause was contact to the rear of Ashley Freiberg's No. 46 BMW M3 in the middle of Grand Sport class competitor scrum that forced her on the wet grass, then into and almost over the turn four tire wall. For the second consecutive race BMW Motorsport driver Trent Hindman was unable to drive.

Bill Auberlen, making a guest drive in the No. 21 Burton Racing BMW 128i with BMW Team RLL teammate John Edwards, started from the eighth position. He quickly jumped to third after the restart, but dropped back almost as quickly as a suspected broken front sway bar crippled his progress around the 1.5-mile, 7-turn bull ring. Edwards took over the struggle on lap 61 with some 50 minutes remaining, ultimately finishing 22nd.

Bimmerworld Racing finished sixth and ninth in the Street Tuner class with Nos. 84 and 81 BMW 328i respectively to be the highest finishing BMWs in the race. The race was won by 2004 Formula BMW USA Junior Billy Johnson (US), driving a Ford Shelby GT350R-C.

All TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge classes will next be in action at Road America, in Elkhart Lake, Wis., on August 8 - 9.

BMW Group In America

---

Trending News

• PVGP Welcomes The Historic Stock Car Racing Association To 2024 Historics At Pitt Race
• Bonhams|Cars Presents An Unmissable Grid For Its Inaugural Miami Auction At The Formula 1 Crypto.Com Miami Grand Prix
• Carlisle Auctions Concludes First Auction of 2024 – Sells More than 50% of Consignments
• RM Sotheby's Announces Further Incredible Competiton And Rally Greats Coming To Monaco On 10 And 11 May
• BONHAMS|CARS SPRING STAFFORD MOTORCYCLE SALE ACHIEVES £3 MILLION WITH AN INDUSTRY-LEADING 95% SELL THROUGH RATE

---

BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003. The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI brand, and the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; Designworks, a strategic design consultancy based in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country. BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW Group's global manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all X5 and X3 Sports Activity Vehicles and X6 and X4 Sports Activity Coupes. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 339 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 148 BMW motorcycle retailers, 123 MINI passenger car dealers, and 36 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers. BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group's sales headquarters for North America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

The BMW Group

With its three brands, BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, the BMW Group is the world's leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services. As a global company, the BMW Group operates 30 production and assembly facilities in 14 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2014, the BMW Group sold approximately 2.118 million cars and 123,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax for the financial year 2013 was euro 7.91 billion on revenues amounting to approximately euro 76.06 billion. As of 31 December 2013, the BMW Group had a workforce of 110,351 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been built on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.