BMW GT3, GT4 Double Duty “Like Second Nature” for Foley

Robby Foley described his double duty program with Turner Motorsport in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge as “second nature,” splitting his time between driving GT3 and GT4 machinery.

Foley, a stalwart of Will Turner’s eponymous team, will contest both the full WeatherTech Championship campaign in the No. 96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO with co-driver Patrick Gallagher and share a GT4-spec BMW with Vin Barletta in the sister series.

In the process, Foley reforms the championship-winning partnership with Barletta from 2023 in Pilot Challenge after driving with Francis Seldorff in 2024 and only contesting a limited schedule last year.

“From my side, I always loved the championship,” Foley told Sportscar365. “We’ve had a lot of success as a team there in the past.

“The way it worked out last year, just the way the driver pairings were working out, Vin and Matt Dalton wanted to split the season, just other commitments they had, so that worked.

“To be honest, it was very last minute that Vin and I were going to do it again.

There was another something happening in the background that fell through, but super happy to jump back in the championship.

“It’s a championship I love. I think the racing is very good and hopefully we can build on our 2023 season.

“The last race I did, we ended up on the podium, so hopefully just try to keep that going there.

“I do love driving double duty on the weekend. It’s a lot of work, but it’s good fun.

“It gives you kind of an insight to how the track’s evolving, stuff like that. The cars are super different, but you can learn a few different things.”

Despite describing the arrangement of combining multiple series on the same weekend as “very hectic,” Foley explained that he expects to have an easier this time as Turner is no longer active in the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge.

“To be honest it works well being on the same team because some of the people are shared and in the same kind of programs,” he said.

“The crazy thing too, last year and in previous years, I was also coaching in VP Challenge.

“So the Roar was a lot of fun, but in some ways a nightmare because I never left the pit lane.

“I would be coaching the VP Challenge drivers, basically doing everything from pit lane. So I would be debriefing with them, looking at data and video.

“Then the next session is happening. So it was a lot to manage, but this year actually will be more relaxed, as silly as that sounds.”

When asked about the benefits of taking part in multiple sessions across the weekend, Foley explained that the amount of track time on offer by competing in two championships is a major upside.

“So for example at Laguna [Seca] doing the GT4 sessions was super valuable to see how the track evolved.

“Same with Road America, I think that was super helpful. The cars being so different, it’s difficult to relate the driving almost.

“In some ways that’s actually more difficult to adjust between the two but you definitely get more of a insight into how the track is evolving.

“In some ways it’s harder to go into the GT4 because it just has less performance.

“Also in the last two years on this new Michelin tire we have in GTD, the grip level is so much higher.

“So the braking points and everything is farther apart than ever. So it’s muscle memory and just understanding from experience.

“Like, ‘OK, here I brake at the 200-meter board in the GT4 and it’s the 100-meter in the GT3.

“They’re still both BMWs, front engines, similar style of engine. Both have very good drivability.

“It gets easier the more you do it. For me now, it’s like second nature, but at the beginning it was interesting.”