Turner BMW Wins Attrition-Filled Road America Race

Photo: Turner Motorsport

Turner Motorsport’s Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg gained further ground in the Pro class championship with their second GT World Challenge America powered by AWS victory in the last three races following an attrition-filled three-hour race at Road America.

Foley took the No. 29 BMW M4 GT3 EVO to a 4.363-second win over the points leading No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Mikael Grenier following a final-hour green flag run.

The BMW factory driver got around Grenier for the effective lead on the race’s fourth and final restart with 56 minutes to go.

The win has put the two-time and reigning Pro-Am class champions within four points of the Pro class lead heading into next month’s penultimate round of the season at Barber Motorsports Park and then the double points-paying Indianapolis 8 Hour powered by AWS finale.

A suspected engine-related issue for the then Am class-leading No. 163 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of Benny Simonsen, which stopped on track, brought out the race’s final yellow, although three cars, including the No. 6 Dollahite Racing Ford Mustang GT3 EVO of Alex Sedgwick, stayed on track.

Sedgwick pitted one lap after the restart due to not having yet met the 75-minute drive-time requirement at the time of the yellow, which ruled out the Mustang of a potential first-ever overall win in SRO Motorsports Group competition globally.

Sedgwick and co-driver Cameron Lawrence instead settled for a third place class finish in 11th overall, with Lawrence having held off a hard-charging Zachary Vanier in the No. 8 McCann Racing Porsche.

The overall pole-sitting No. 12 AF Corse Ferrari of Miguel Molina and Matias Perez Companc, who led early amid a series of opening-hour yellows, dropped out with suspected engine issues in the second hour.

It came after a massive four-car accident at The Kink, triggered by the No. 14 Riley Technologies BMW of Slade Stewart, which got into the rear of the No. 13 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo of Todd Parriott and collected the Pro-Am championship-leading No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche of Kyle Washington, Parriott’s teammate Michael Clark, as well as the Rebel Rock Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Frank DePew.

All four drivers were reported to have climbed from their cars under their own power but led to a 30-minute safety car period, following separate accidents and yellows for the No. 88 Kellymoss Porsche of John Gilliland and the No. 04 HP-TECH Motorsport Ferrari of Tony Davis, the latter who was tagged by the No. 67 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari of Mitchell Green, which received a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility.

The long yellow led to several split strategies as the race unfolded, although it was essentially reset during the final caution with just over an hour to go.

TR3 Breaks Through for First Pro-Am Win of Season

Pro-Am class honors went to the No. 9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG of Daniel Morad and Brayton Williams following a final stint charge by the Canadian, who passed the effective class-leading No. 28 RS1 Porsche of Jan Heylen with 38 minutes to go.

Heylen and GT3 debutant Danny Dyszelski, who impressed in qualifying, finished second in class, ahead of new class points leaders Ryan Yardley and Dave Musial Jr. in the No. 31 Wright Motorsports Porsche.

Musial Jr. and the Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Driver benefited from a zero-points day for GMG’s Washington and SRO GT Academy leader Tom Sargent, who never got to drive on Sunday, and now provisionally hold a three-point advantage in the title race.

Wright’s sister No. 242 Porsche of Thomas Merrill and Therese Lahlouh, who narrowly escaped the multi-car pileup at The Kink, finished fourth in class, ahead of a hard-charging Philip Ellis in the No. 27 JMG Mercedes-AMG and the No. 18 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 of Riccardo Agostini.

The race-ending issues for the No. 163 AF Corse Ferrari handed the Am class win to series debutants Green and Jon Morley in the No. 67 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 296 GT3, which recorded a ninth place overall result.

Morley finished ahead of the Pro-Am class No. 99 Random Vandals Racing BMW, which diced for the class lead early on with Derek DeBoer but later encountered turbo-related issues.

Fourteen of the 23 starting cars finished the race, with the No. 14 Riley BMW retiring in the final hour after effects from a left-rear puncture for Andy Lee.

The No. 69 Archangel Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 also encountered a tire-related issue after contact between Todd Coleman and the No. 27 JMF Mercedes-AMG of Jason Daskalos early in the second hour.

Daskalos was given a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility.

RESULTS: Race

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