As the midpoint of the 2017 season quickly approaches, the seventh place sitting Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 and team look to carry their momentum into the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen this weekend for round six of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The six-hour endurance challenge on the 3.40, 11-turn road racing mecca marks the third round of the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Championship in which Turner BMWs have experience much success in over the past several years.
The driver lineup will include the return of Justin Marks who will team up with Jens Klingmann. The driver pair will be back behind the wheel of the No. 96 Katerra sponsored BMW M6 GT3 for the first time together since the Sebring 12 Hour earlier this season.
’Watkins Glen really suits out M6 GT3 very well,’ said Jens Klingmann. ’Last year we had a strong run here as the newer surface and fast nature of the circuit really allowed us to push our BMW for some quick and competitive lap times. This year I am looking forward to teaming up with Justin (Marks) and pushing for some strong results.’
Turner BMWs have led laps in each of their previous appearances in the Sahlen’s Six Hours at Watkins Glen to capture a second place in 2012 and a dominant win in 2014 after leading 169 out of 178 laps.
’It’s been a little while since I’ve been behind the wheel of the Turner M6 GT3 so I’m very excited for this weekend,’ said Justin Marks. ’We had a solid car for both Daytona and Sebring so I am optimistic our BMW will be strong at the Glen as well, especially given the history the blue and yellow has had here.
Will Turner added, ’This season has had its ups and downs for sure. We are definitely looking forward to this weekend at the Glen, as well as some of the upcoming events like Road America, VIR in August. These are all tracks we have had a lot of past success and as of right now we are looking for funded drivers to race in the M6 for these events. Both Marks and Curtis are unable to race due to scheduling conflicts so we will have to sit those two races out if we cannot fill the open seat.’
With just six races remaining this 2017 season following this weekend, Turner has begun to prepare for the 2018 season with the recent order brand new 2018 M4 GT4 racecars to be raced in multiple series.
’We are super excited for this newest member of the BMW Motorsport racecar family to hit the states,’ Will Turner said. ’We should have the cars toward the end of this season and will begin testing, prep and the driver search for the 2018 season. The testing has proven to show that the M4 GT4 should be a very capable and competitive platform.’
The new BMW M4 GT4 had its first race earlier this year in the 24 Hours of Dubai and won it’s class. This GT4 car will be eligible to race in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge in the ’GS’ class as well as in Pirelli World Challenge GTS.
The WeatherTech Championship on-track action will kick off on Friday with the first GTD practice at 11:05am ET. The GTD class qualifying will be LIVE on IMSA on Saturday, July 1st at 11:40am ET and the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen will go green at 10:10am on Sunday, July 2nd to be broadcast LIVE from 10:00am to 4:30pm ET on Fox Sports 1.
Stay tuned as the team prepares for this weekend’s race by following all our social media channels including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
