Turner Withdraws BMW Entry Due to Dinan Illness

Turner Motorsport has withdrawn its BMW M6 GT3 from the Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS due to its driver Michael Dinan feeling unwell.

Dinan was due to team up with Robby Foley and defending event winner Connor De Phillippi in the sole Pro-class entry from BMW this weekend.

Foley and Dinan entered the weekend third in the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS Pro class points standings with an outside chance of taking second in the championship away from K-PAX Racing’s Giovanni Venturini and Corey Lewis.

The extent of Dinan’s illness is unclear. However, team owner will Turner explained that the American driver has repeatedly tested negative for COVID-19.

“He is pretty sick and doesn’t feel like he can safely drive,” Turner told Sportscar365. “Because of this, we have decided to withdraw from the race.

“He did test negative in two different COVID tests so we are not worried for the team or others he was around.”

Three-driver lineups are required for the event and Turner has opted to withdraw its car rather than seeking a late replacement for Dinan.

Bill Auberlen, who races with the Turner squad in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, is unavailable due to his participation in the race with GT4 outfit BimmerWorld. 

BMW factory driver De Phillippi set the second-fastest lap during Pre-Qualifying practice on Saturday, but that is set to be the last outing for Turner’s car this weekend.

Its withdrawal brings the number of entries for the race down to 39 cars after initially starting out at 41.

Ian Lacy Racing pulled its Aston Martin Vantage GT3 from the event after the car sustained damage in an accident during Friday’s Bronze driver test.