Turner: Defending Pro-Am Title “Even Tougher” This Year

Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO

Will Turner believes defending their Pro-Am class title in GT World Challenge America powered by AWS will be “even tougher” this year due to an influx of competition into the class.

Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg claimed a dramatic championship for Turner Motorsport after overturning ST Racing’s points lead in the season-ending Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS.

Foley and GT3 rookie Rothberg won the title by just five points over Samatha Tan and Neil Verhagen, who do not return to the series this year.

However, the Pro-Am class features a record 14 entries for this weekend’s season-opener at Sonoma, including several new championship threats that will keep the Turner Motorsport BMW duo on their heels.

“Coming back as defending champions certainly has some added pressure, but I’m really looking forward to Justin’s sophomore season,” said Foley.

“He now knows what he didn’t know ahead of last season, and we can now focus on the fine details that will take his driving to the next level.

“We both love Sonoma Raceway, so I can’t wait to head back to Wine Country and get the season going.”

Turner added: “It’s great to be returning as defending GT World Challenge champions. It by no means was an easy feat to achieve last year, but I think it may be even tougher this year due to the increased competition.

“Justin should be in a great place going into his second season having a year of GT3 under his belt.”

In addition to their championship defense, the team will debut the BMW M4 GT3 EVO in SRO global race competition this weekend, with both the team’s GT World America and GT America powered by AWS entries having been updated to the latest specification from the German manufacturer.

Rothberg will again take part in the GT America series, which runs 40-minute single-driver races for Bronze-rated or Bronze derogated drivers.

He finished runner-up in the SRO3 drivers’ championship last year, finishing just 1 point behind Johnny O’Connell, who will not defend his title in the 2025 season.

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