# TMS heads to Sebring with defending champion



## scottn2retro (Mar 20, 2002)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Auberlen, Marks, Crescentini Open 2004 Season

SEBRING, FL - 03/16/2004 - Bill Auberlen, the SPEED Touring Car Champion of 2003, will take to the track in defense of his title beginning with this week's events at Sebring International Raceway in central Florida. Following in his footsteps will be Justin Marks and Rookie of the Year contender Dino Crescentini. The trio will be driving BMW 325i sedans in the familiar colors of Turner Motorsport and H&R Springs.

Auberlen begins his second full season racing with Turner Motorsport. Last year during his run to the Championship he scored four wins - including the opening round last year at Sebring. Auberlen lists Sebring as one of his favorite tracks. Although the Turner Motorsport team has done their homework in the off-season he expects a strong challenge from other drivers in the field. The team concentrated their winter testing on the new Toyo race tires that the series has specified all cars must use.

Bill Auberlen, #1 Turner Motorsport/H&R Springs BMW 325i: "I'm excited to be back at Sebring competing with a BMW in the very capable hands of Turner Motorsport. We just got back from testing with the new Toyo RA-1 tires and all I can say is 'Wow!'"

Pre-season testing yielded serious speed from all three drivers - Marks and Crescentini in particular. Marks is no stranger to BMWs having competed last season in a BMW M3 and racing a similar car in the Grand Am GT series (2nd place at Homestead a few weeks ago).

Team owner, and President of Turner Motorsport Inc, Will Turner will be calling the shots from behind the wall rather than behind the wheel for the 2004 Touring Car season. Turner will be concentrating his driving talent on the company's Grand Am Cup effort. But that did not keep him from sitting out of the winter testing sessions.

"We were fortunate enough to get some track time in on the new tire; we learned a lot - some teams may get caught out if they didn't get to test on the new tire. This is a totally new ballgame - the tires are sticky but they need a completely different car set up to make them drivable," says Turner.

The upcoming 2004 season will be Turner Motorsport's seventh year in Touring Car competition. Together with H&R Springs, OZ Wheels, Red Line Oil, Piloti Driving Shoes, Sunoco Race Fuels, Centric Parts, Meguiar's, and Hot Tomatoes we hope to bring home another Championship.

It all begins at Sebring International Raceway with practice on Wednesday, March 17, qualifying on Thursday and the race at 1:15pm on Friday, March 19. The SPEED Channel's broadcast of the first round will be shown on Sunday, March 21 at 12pm ET. To keep up with the Turner Motorsport team visit www.tmsracing.com and view SPEED Touring Car information on www.world-challenge.com.

Click on http://www.world-challenge.com/2004/events/seb/schedule.html to see this session's results.
See http://www.tmsracing.com for more Turner Motorsport Racing Action!

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## OBS3SSION (Oct 1, 2002)

:thumbup: : popcorn: :bow: :beerchug: :banana: :clap: :drive: :fruit: :supdude: :sabrina: 


(You might think this was my favorite racing series or something...)


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## scottn2retro (Mar 20, 2002)

OBS3SSION said:


> :thumbup: :bow: :beerchug: :banana: :clap: :drive: :supdude: :sabrina:
> 
> (You might think this was my favorite racing series or something...)


So, does that mean you will be going to Lime Rock?


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## dhabes (Jan 22, 2004)

Welp the season begins in the next few minutes. Check live timing and scoring for each session if you are bored here: Live Timing and Scoring ...not sure if it isnt working at the time but they were due to take the track 10 mins ago...hopefully they will have any bugs worked out by this afternoon.

Also first shots of the cars. I guess there may have been some complications with the stickers, cant tell you anything about it as I havent been able to talk to any of them. needless to say loving the new superlegga'son BAs car- lets just say the old ones were not very easy to clean  .... Other new sponsors inclue Piloti Shoes, Stoptech Braking systems, Centric Parts... Still on board with us is Meguiars Detailing products, Red Line Oils, Sunoco Race Fuels, and obviously and most importantly H&R springs


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## scottn2retro (Mar 20, 2002)

Hey, that's pretty good - the TMS cars get to be numbers 1, 2 and 3. Looks like all 3 TMS cars were in the top ten in practice, but there was a wide range of times - I would suspect that would tighten up through the weekend.

Call your aunt and see if she can slip a decal on for us in practice or qualifying. :eeps: With BA being the champ, the ad rates on the SWC cars may have gone up to the point where Will only wants us on the GAC cars. :dunno: With the scramble to get the teams ready, I have not been able to talk to Will for a while.


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## dhabes (Jan 22, 2004)

scottn2retro said:


> Hey, that's pretty good - the TMS cars get to be numbers 1, 2 and 3. Looks like all 3 TMS cars were in the top ten in practice, but there was a wide range of times - I would suspect that would tighten up through the weekend.
> 
> Call your aunt and see if she can slip a decal on for us in practice or qualifying. :eeps: With BA being the champ, the ad rates on the SWC cars may have gone up to the point where Will only wants us on the GAC cars. :dunno: With the scramble to get the teams ready, I have not been able to talk to Will for a while.


Scott, BA had a run in with the wall this morning. The crew is scrambling to get the car ready for tonight otherwise id ask her. Sorry man. Other than that it was an amazing session for TMS


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## scottn2retro (Mar 20, 2002)

Looks like only 3 of last year's Team PTG M3s are running this event:

#7 Tom Stewart - Stewart Motorsports

#20 Jeff McMillin - McMillin Motorsports
#21 Shawn Greene - McMillin Motorsports


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## SteveT (Dec 22, 2001)

Touring looks impressive for BMW with Pierre Kleinubing breaking up five BMW's at the front.

Here's a like to today's combined practice times.

GT looks like the bigger engine cars have taken over. Jeff McMillin's the best placed M3 in 12th. It's the first day, maybe they'll get better.

Combined GT times for first day of practice.


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## BMWRacerITS (Mar 17, 2004)

Methinks if the fastest M3's end up uncompetitive through the first couple of races, they will get some competition adjustments to lower their weight and bring them back closer to the front now that guys like Auberlen, Said, and Stuck aren't driving them. Those guys were the class of the driver field and ended up getting the M3 "penalized" due to their driving ability.


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## SteveT (Dec 22, 2001)

BMWRacerITS said:


> Methinks if the fastest M3's end up uncompetitive through the first couple of races, they will get some competition adjustments to lower their weight and bring them back closer to the front now that guys like Auberlen, Said, and Stuck aren't driving them. Those guys were the class of the driver field and ended up getting the M3 "penalized" due to their driving ability.


Ah, the SCCA philosophy. Penalize the best drivers in the series. They forget this is professional racing...isn't it? I wonder how much phantom base weight is still there? They removed some of it as soon as it was clear PTG wouldn't be back. I wish Jeff McMillin all the best, I'll be rooting for him.


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## BMWRacerITS (Mar 17, 2004)

As a fan, I love the weight penalties. Makes for more interesting racing. As a driver/team owner, it would tick me off. BUT, you know before you get into the series that it's part of the deal. It's one of the tradeoffs of participating in a series with plenty of exposure for your sponsors...much of that exposure wouldn't be there if it weren't for those rules that make the racing closer and more exciting, and thus result in more viewers on TV and in attendance.

Besides, how else would you propose a series go about making such different cars able to compete on a level playing field? We are talking 3.2 liter sport sedans and 8.0 liter factory race cars all competing for a race win. I think SCCA has done a hell of a job. :thumbup:


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## OBS3SSION (Oct 1, 2002)

I have to agree that SWC is very exciting to watch. Of the road racing series, it is my favorite. I think it is a combination of a few things:

The cars are kept somewhat "equal" with the rules/specs and the REWARDS so that it can be anyone's race.
The short sprint format makes for great racing beginning to end.
The cars are lightly modified (compared to other series) from showroom cars, so it's very easy for a fan to associate with the makes and models.
Oh and on a side note:

PLEASE DON'T POST SPOILERS IN THIS THREAD WHEN THE RACES OCCUR ON FRIDAY! I PLAN TO WATCH THEM SUNDAY, AND DON'T WANT IT SPOILED. Thank you.


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## scottn2retro (Mar 20, 2002)

OBS3SSION said:


> PLEASE DON'T POST SPOILERS IN THIS THREAD WHEN THE RACES OCCUR ON FRIDAY! I PLAN TO WATCH THEM SUNDAY, AND DON'T WANT IT SPOILED. Thank you.


GOOD IDEA! But I assume it's okay to talk about Qualifying results. :angel:

Another thing about the rules keeping the cars close that would piss me off as a car owner is that all close racing leads to the cars getting beat up pretty good. But hey, Rubbin' is Racin'


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## scottn2retro (Mar 20, 2002)

SteveT said:


> Touring looks impressive for BMW with Pierre Kleinubing breaking up five BMW's at the front.
> Here's a like to today's combined practice times.
> 
> GT looks like the bigger engine cars have taken over. Jeff McMillin's the best placed M3 in 12th. It's the first day, maybe they'll get better.
> Combined GT times for first day of practice.


I don't follow the SCCA forums, but with the Cadillacs running up front, I can imagine there will be some unhappy veterans in the GT series. But I've also noticed that Cadillac is one of the sponsors on the SCCA Pro Racing web site :eeps:


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## dhabes (Jan 22, 2004)

scottn2retro said:


> I don't follow the SCCA forums, but with the Cadillacs running up front, I can imagine there will be some unhappy veterans in the GT series. But I've also noticed that Cadillac is one of the sponsors on the SCCA Pro Racing web site :eeps:


Yes it has...first talks yest morning about caddy not being that good and someone basically calling people idiots for all the talk and then it turned into "i told you so."

PS Bimmerfest is now sponsoring the Pole Car in SWC Touring if you catch my drift Scott :thumbup:


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## OBS3SSION (Oct 1, 2002)

scottn2retro said:


> GOOD IDEA! But I assume it's okay to talk about Qualifying results. :angel:


Fine by me. I just didn't want the race spoiled.



> Another thing about the rules keeping the cars close that would piss me off as a car owner is that all close racing leads to the cars getting beat up pretty good. But hey, Rubbin' is Racin'


...and while you do have lapped cars in SWC, you don't have it in the excess like other series where the distance between first and second place is seperated by laps! What fun is watching that?


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## scottn2retro (Mar 20, 2002)

OBS3SSION said:


> ...and while you do have lapped cars in SWC, you don't have it in the excess like other series where the distance between first and second place is seperated by laps! What fun is watching that?


I also like the close racing action. I was just saying it has to drive the teams nuts to have to keep doing bodywork. 

Wow - 8 BMWs in the top 15 - but one thing is clear - it looks like all the BMWs in the top 10 were on teams that got to do prior testing on the new tires.

Looks like the TMS team got BAs ride in fine shape for qualifying :bigpimp:


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## TurnerMS (Sep 9, 2003)

Photo from today:


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## scottn2retro (Mar 20, 2002)

dugmar said:


> Photo from today:


 WOO HOO! :thumbup: :clap: :banana: :supdude:

Thanks for posting, Doug.

Well, that may very well do it. No matter what happens in life now, I can die a happy man. :bigpimp:


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## SLang (Dec 1, 2003)

Doug, what wheel is that on Auberlen's car?


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## BMWRacerITS (Mar 17, 2004)

And where did the aero devices in front of each front wheel go from last season? We started using them on our car and they definitely seemed to add some front end grip and probably cut down on the drag created by the spinning tire that sticks out from the bottom of the body work.


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## SteveT (Dec 22, 2001)

BMWRacerITS said:


> As a fan, I love the weight penalties. Makes for more interesting racing. As a driver/team owner, it would tick me off. BUT, you know before you get into the series that it's part of the deal.


In theory you are right. In practice, the SCCA changed the base weight on the PTG cars last year without notice. Just because they were too fast. You don't expect them to slow you down behind the scenes. SCCA... :thumbdwn:

I like the SWC, but I don't think it's being run professionally. It's a good formula, but they've got to leave it alone. Add the rewards weight as the rules allow, but don't fool with the base weight once the season starts. You can look at Tom Milner's quotes in the May Bimmer Magazine.

I do follow what's on the SCCA Pro Racing bulletin board and they have been very uncomfortable with the Cadillac. The SCCA wants them in the series, so they've allowed a very heavily modified from production machine. The SCCA was cooler to PTG last year. Their nightmare scenario was BMW and Bill Auberlen winning both series. It's amazing that he was carrying so much weight in Touring and was still competitive.

Now we should congratulate Bill Auberlen for putting the Turner car on the pole.

Great work! :thumbup:


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## PunchIt (Dec 24, 2002)

BMWRacerITS said:


> And where did the aero devices in front of each front wheel go from last season? We started using them on our car and they definitely seemed to add some front end grip and probably cut down on the drag created by the spinning tire that sticks out from the bottom of the body work.


They were ruled illegal. As for the wall incident...it was very minor.


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## dhabes (Jan 22, 2004)

SLang said:


> Doug, what wheel is that on Auberlen's car?


OZ superlagga


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## BMWRacerITS (Mar 17, 2004)

PunchIt said:


> They were ruled illegal.


Got ya. Interesting.

Ruled illegal according to last years rules or were the rules simply changed/modified/clarified to take them away this year?


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## TurnerMS (Sep 9, 2003)

SLang said:


> Doug, what wheel is that on Auberlen's car?


OZ's are the wheels. I'll take photos of the cars when they come back of the car standing still so you can see them better.

BTW:
I am taking photos this memorial day wknd at LRP. Expect a lot of photos. I have a photo credential for the entire weekend, two 512MB memory cards, a new digital rebel and a 400mm lens.  I'll do Bimmerfest proud.

Doug


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## scottn2retro (Mar 20, 2002)

Thanks Doug. Here's today's press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Auberlen Takes First Pole Of 2004

SEBRING, FL - 03/18/2004 - Bill Auberlen leads an all-BMW front row for today's SPEED Touring Car race at Sebring International Raceway in Florida. All three of the Turner Motorsport/H&R Springs BMWs broke the existing lap record in qualifying yesterday with Auberlen starting first, Justin Marks from eighth, and Dino Crescentini from fourteenth. The race is today at 1:15pm.

This is Auberlen's second Sebring pole in a row having won the pole - and the race - last year. Auberlen drove his #1 Turner Motorsport/H&R Springs BMW 325i to a lap time of 2:23.199 - over 3.5 seconds faster than last year's time.

Bill Auberlen: "This is pretty much the same car that we won the last race with in 2003. It's a great car with lots of Turner Motorsport development done on it. I've got a lot of laps on these new Toyo RA-1 race tires so setting up the car was a snap. The BMWs feel instantly at home at Sebring and I'm excited that defending my Championship is off to a great start."

Justin Marks has been quick since first turning a wheel in Tuesday's practice sessions. Marks will start from the eighth position on the grid - less than a second off his teammate's pole winning time. Justin's biggest threat is his standing starts; look for him to jump several places when the lights go out at the start of the race.

Dino Crescentini will start from fourteenth place in his first World Challenge race. The Rookie-of-the-Year contender is driving the #3 Turner Motorsport/H&R Springs/Centric Parts 325i. Dino showed lots of speed in practice sessions where all three Turner Motorsport BMWs were in the top ten.

Dino Crescentini: "We changed some things from our practice set up and they didn't really work out. We were fast in practice so we'll go back to that setup for the race."

Turner Motorsport receives support from H&R Springs, OZ Wheels, Red Line Oil, Piloti Driving Shoes, Sunoco Race Fuels, StopTech Brakes, Centric Parts, Meguiar's, and Hot Tomatoes restaurant and bar. This strong lineup of drivers, cars, and sponsors will be tough to beat during today's race. The cars roll off from their standing start at 1:15pm for their 50-minute clash. Then the race is broadcast this Sunday at 12pm on The Speed Channel. All times are Eastern. Live Timing of the race can be followed at www.world-challenge.com and news, photos, results for Turner Motorsport are at www.tmsracing.com or www.turnermotorsport.com.

Click on http://www.world-challenge.com/2004/events/seb/tc-grid.html to see this session's results.
See http://www.tmsracing.com for more Turner Motorsport Racing Action!

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## HW (Dec 24, 2001)

dugmar said:


> OZ's are the wheels. I'll take photos of the cars when they come back of the car standing still so you can see them better.


OZ superleggera. the one piece ones.


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