# Turner Motorsport Sweeps Grand Prix of Miami Weekend



## tim330i (Dec 18, 2001)

*Auberlen and Dalla Lana Co-Drive to Rolex GT and Continental GS victories at Miami-Homestead Speedway*

It is said that March comes in like a lion, but today it was Turner Motorsport that stormed into Homestead-Miami Speedway for a double victory at the GRAND-AM Grand Prix of Miami weekend. BMW ace Bill Auberlen and co-driver Paul Dalla Lana paired up in two different Turner Motorsport BMW M3s to win the GT class in the Grand Prix of Miami and the GS class victory in the Continental Tires Sports Car Challenge Kia 200. It was only the second time in GRAND-AM history that two drivers won both GT and GS races on the same day.

"This double-win weekend is the result of all the focused work from everyone at Turner Motorsport," said team owner Will Turner. "The foundation of our business is to develop and prove the parts that we sell. Racing drives our parts sales during the week as much as parts sales drive our racing on the weekend. The two sides of the businesses go hand in hand. It's great to deliver two wins so early in the season to all of our partners, H&R Springs, StopTech Brakes, Borla Exhaust, MOTUL lubricants and especially to our new sponsors, ESCORT, SPY sunglasses, and COBALT Friction Technologies."

The Miami Grand Prix was Auberlen's 100th Rolex start and 20th Rolex victory. For Dalla Lana, who joined Turner Motorsport in 2009, a hard day's work landed him his very first Rolex and second CTSCC victory.

In a combined total of 5 hours-and-15-minutes of racing, the duo led a dominating 136 laps of 199 laps raced. Combined with a third place GS finish at the season-opening Daytona 200, the CTSCC victory gives Turner Motosport, Auberlen and Dalla Lana, and BMW the lead in team, driver and manufacturer points respectively.

Teammates Joey Hand and Michael Marsal had a difficult day, but rebounded to finish seventh after contact early in the race left their No. 97 M3 with front end damage and no power steering.

Paul Dalla Lana, "This is my first Rolex and second Continental win. I could easily get used to this feeling. It is really a privilege to drive with this great team, especially with such an accomplished driver as Bill. I am learning every lap and looking forward to Barber- it's going be good."

Bill Auberlen, "I wanted my 100th Rolex race to be a milestone. I knew we had the right car and I knew the team was ready to go. From the first lap in the GT car I knew we really had a winner. Add in perfect strategy, perfect pit stops, and it was quite easy. The transmission caused some concern in late laps, but today nothing could stop us. We struggled a little bit this weekend with the GS car. We just kept going through set up after set up, developing quite a library. We cherry picked all the best bits and on started on a set up that we never tried before. Paul handed off and I was able to drive right to the front and never look back."

*Videos*





 








 




*Pictures*
        

*By the Numbers*

*Grand Prix of Miami* 
No. 94 BMW M3 (Auberlen/Dalla Lana) - Qualified P6, Finish P1
Margin of victory: 5.639 seconds
Laps completed: 112
Laps led: 80
Finish ***8211; P1

*Continental Challenge Kia 200*
No. 96 BMW M3 (Auberlen/Dalla Lana) - Qualified P12, Finish P1
Margin of victory: 2.881 seconds
Laps completed: 87
Laps led: 56
Fastest race lap: Auberlen 1:26.352 (Lap 37)

No. 97 BMW M3 (Hand/Marsal) Qualified P14, Finish P7

*Television note:*
The Kia 200 will be broadcast on SPEED television Saturday, March 19 at 2:00 p.m. ET.

*Next race:*
GRAND-AM and Turner Motorsport will return to action on April 8-9 at Barber Motorsport Park, in Birmingham, Alabama.

*About Turner Motorsport*
Turner Motorsport is the leading BMW tuner in North America, bringing technology and expertise from the racetrack to the street. Turner Motorsport is not about clever marketing tricks or gimmicks. Racetrack results speak themselves. The Turner Motorsport team has won five professional racing championships in two different series since 2003. This storied success is passed into every component that Turner Motorsport designs and sells through their website catalog. Our race team, R&D engineers and Sales team work together, allowing practical knowledge and state-of-the-art engineering to flow in both directions. Few companies in North America can claim such a close relationship to what they sell and what they race.


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## ColomBull (Nov 27, 2009)

Love it!


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