BMW’s Foley Treating GTD Title-Decider as “Just Another Race”

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Robby Foley said Turner Motorsport will be treating this weekend’s Motul Petit Le Mans as “just another race for us” amid a ultra-close fight for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD title.

Foley and co-driver Patrick Gallagher enter the ten-hour enduro at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta just six points behind the Winward Racing duo of Philip Ellis and Russell Ward, who are seeking their third consecutive championship.

It is the second-closest points battle, with only four points separating first and second in LMP2 entering the weekend.

While Winward bounced back from misfortunes at both Sebring and Watkins Glen, Turner and Gallagher have been the measure of consistency this season, with their BMW M4 GT3 EVO scoring six top-five finishes in nine races, including their first win of the season last time out at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Foley believes that class win, the team’s first in WeatherTech Championship competition since Road America 2024, has firmly put them back in the hunt.

“We had a really strong Indy, which was great, and put us more in the championship picture,” he said.

“We were always kind of there, thereabouts, but I feel like the last couple years with the 57 dominating, you have to win a race or two or three to really be in the conversation.

“It was nice to get a good haul of points there. Obviously, they finished second, so we didn’t close too much of a gap.

“I think it’s going to come down to just having a good, clean race. That’s kind of been our M.O. all season. It’s always [about] being in and around the top five and around the podium. For us, it’s, you know, really no different.

“It’s just another race, but in the end, we’re definitely going to be focused on what the 57 car is doing in qualifying, and in the end, it could come down to one position.

“We were strong there last year in terms of pace. The race didn’t quite work out. We had an incident or two that kind of took us out of the front.

“But it’s just another race for us and we’ll keep up the same mentality as what’s got us to this position.”

Ward and Ellis, who are rejoined by Indy Dontje this weekend, have been the dominant force in the series in recent years, with the Texas-based team having scored victories at every active GTD circuit except for Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta and the streets of Long Beach.

“On paper, it seems like [Road Atlanta] should suit the Mercedes-AMG GT3 really well, and we certainly love driving the racetrack, but every time we come into the race weekend, we seem to be missing a little bit compared to the competition,” said Ward.

“We went there last week [testing] and kind of threw the kitchen sink at the car, changed pretty much everything that we could to try to find differences in the setups and come up with a really, really sharp race car coming into the weekend.

“To close those two [winless tracks] out mean a ton to the program, so we’re just going to have to see where we’re at.

Regarding their pursuit for a third consecutive title, Ward also said they’re going to be focused on the race itself and not necessarily where their competition is.

“The Turner car will be super quick there,” said Ward. “They’re always good so it’s going to be an exciting battle, and for us, we’re just going to focus on the race and try not to look too much at what the 96 is doing.

“I think we learned our lesson there in the past when you look at the competition and kind of change up your methodology.

“You never really know what the outcome can be, so you really just need to focus on the race and going to maximize the result.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John