The first part of our interview with Turner Motorsport founder and team principal Will Turner, and drivers Michael Dinan and Robby Foley, covered GT World Challenge America’s recent regulation changes for the Pro category driver lineups, the context behind it, and explored the feelings of a team that has been impacted by this change.
But for the sake of maintaining mental and emotional health, for all parties involved, it was time to slam the brakes on talking about driver ratings.
After all, there were more interesting matters to cover off: Turner Motorsport, one of North American sports car racing’s most popular teams with a pedigree of success and a fun-loving social media presence fuelled by tacos and good-natured humour, had just won their first race with the brand new BMW M4 GT3!
It didn’t come at the SRO America race meeting at NOLA Motorsports Park, where I’d interviewed Turner, Dinan, and Foley on Friday between practices. NOLA was a difficult weekend for them, as mentioned before.
But a week prior, Foley was racing for Turner in the IMSA SportsCar Championship Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio, driving an M4 GT3 just like the one he shares with Dinan in GT World Challenge America.
After the chequered flag had fallen at Mid-Ohio, Foley and the legendary Bill Auberlen (who races for Turner in IMSA, and BimmerWorld in GT World Challenge) finished second on the road behind the Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 of Brendan Iribe and Jordan Pepper. That second place was upgraded to a GTD class win after the Inception McLaren was demoted to last in class, a penalty for failing to meet the minimum weight.
“I mean we’re here to win, right? So every race, we strived to win the first race win in this car for us,” said Turner. “I wish it came by in a real way, and without a DQ. That’s not the way I wanted the first win for us, in that car.”
Turner had a feeling that something was off about the McLaren’s fuel mileage as the race wound down, and he made a deal with fellow BMW customers Paul Miller Racing to let the McLaren through and see if they could go 56 laps on one tank of fuel.
“We also had a perfect strategy,” said Turner. “There was no way, if apples were apples, that car should have been able to go further than us. So basically, the Paul Miller car and us, we both kind of let the McLaren go by, assuming he’s going to run out with two laps to go, like we would have. And it was a surprise when he didn’t.”
“So we kind of left the track saying, ‘Oh, well, you know, IMSA got that their fuel capacity wrong. They’ll probably have an adjustment before the next race to even it out with everybody else.’ We kind of went home thinking that’s just the way it was gonna be.”
“And then I got a phone call that said, ‘if you’re around, come back, change your trophies,’ and I was psyched.”
Not the ideal way that Turner Motorsports wanted to get their first win with the provocatively-styled, yet technically sound and capably quick M4 GT3. But it was a result that seemed like it was just a matter of time for one of the top teams in IMSA’s Pro-Am category for GT3 cars.
“Finishing fourth (at Sebring and Long Beach), and then third (at Laguna Seca), and then winning, definitely, the momentum’s there. But as you know, in sports car racing, it’s not about that. It’s about luck. It’s about preparation, and being at the right place at the right time.”
Just days later, Turner Motorsport had arrived in the paddock of NOLA Motorsports Park, ready to race in GT World Challenge America – but against a slightly smaller field.
Here’s another two-word phrase you’re going to hear a lot of in sports car racing for the near future: “Supply Chain.” Supply chain shortages, specifically. They were cited as the reason for BimmerWorld Racing having to scale back from two cars down to one, after a pre-season testing accident at VIRginia International Raceway resulted in a total loss of one of their brand new M4s. A replacement still isn’t due to arrive for several months.
BimmerWorld were in NOLA with their single car, and so were Turner. But Samantha Tan Racing – another BMW M4 GT3 customer team – withdrew on race week, citing a lack of spare and replacement parts caused by the supply chain.
What has kept Turner Motorsport from suffering these same sorts of supply issues with their new cars as their brethren? “I think we’re more prepared because we saw this coming,” said Turner. “And also, because we had to race Daytona – we needed to be prepared before Daytona. I think we did a good job putting in place systems to make sure we have the parts that we need.”
“And some of that’s very creative. Like we’ve carried fenders on airplanes, and brake rotors to tracks, and stuff like that.” Hearing that made me think back to the mechanics and engineers that worked for NASCAR legend Alan Kulwicki’s ragtag team back in the day, doing similar jobs of flying commercial airlines with race car parts as luggage.
“Fortunately, we made it through, I think, the toughest part. And now the parts truck is here this weekend, and it’s almost full. And it might not be full of everything, but it’s full of a lot of the stuff that you could need on any given weekend. So I think we’re over the hump.”
Dinan, seated to Turner’s left, gave the more blunt answer from the perspective of a driver: “We’ve also been under strict instructions to not damage the car!” he laughed.
A total arsenal of four GT3-spec M4s aren’t the only thing that’s new for Turner Motorsport in 2022. At the end of 2021, the team opened up a new racing headquarters in Newton, New Hampshire, bringing all of their racing efforts – including their M4 GT4 programme from the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge – into their own dedicated space. The benefits of the new headquarters haven’t been fully realised, at least, not yet.
“The same thing that’s affecting the replacement parts for BMW, is affecting us too. The supply chain thing has slowed down our build out of our facility,” Turner admitted.
“But it’s great. What this building has basically done for us, after being in another building for 20 years and then moving, we basically cleaned house and we have a 100 percent dedicated race shop where everything is racing related.”
“The environment change, and different scenery, we hired some new people. All that has kind of put a little spring in our step, as far as this season. New cars, new building, some new employees. We’re excited for the season. We’re excited for the future of Turner Motorsport. And this new building and new facility, it’s going to really help.”
That immediate future will include a return trip to the Indianapolis 8 Hours on 9 October. Dinan and Foley will be part of that effort, with a third driver to be named. Last year, Dinan, Foley, and BMW factory ace Connor de Philippi were due to take part, before Dinan suffered an undisclosed illness which necessitated their withdrawal from the event.
Barring any other catastrophe of that nature, Turner Motorsport will be on the grid for the Intercontinental GT Challenge’s North American leg this autumn. Beyond that, Turner Motorsport have their eyes open to adding other racing opportunities to their 2022 itinerary.
In the meantime, Turner Motorsport will be heading to Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan, for the IMSA Detroit Sports Car Classic on 4 June – and then, on the weekend of 17-19 June, they’ll be back in GT World Challenge America for the third race meeting of the year at VIR.
Images © BMW, SRO Motorsports Group America
