Bill Auberlen and Dillon Machavern in the #95 Turner Motorsport M4 GT4 took the overall win in a rain-soaked Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Road America on Saturday, and then Auberlen and Robby Foley in the team’s #96 M6 GT3 finished second in the GTD class in the IMSA WeatherTech Series race on Sunday. While Sunday’s race was dry, fuel consumption was an issue in both races, with the team finishing on near-empty tanks both days.
The two-hour MPS enduro was run entirely in the rain, with conditions worsening over the course of the race. Machavern started from pole and handed off to Auberlen with just over 1¼ hours remaining. Auberlen stayed out for the balance of the race, slowing to save fuel near the end. His key competitors had the same problem; #95 stayed out and held on for the win. Robby Foley and Vin Barletta in the #96 Turner M4 GT4 finished fourth. After the Road America round, Auberlen and Machavern were first in driver’ points and Foley and Barletta were second. Jan Heylen, co-driver of the #16 Porsche, who had gone into the race tied with Auberlen and Machavern, fell to third as the car exited the race early.
The two-hour-forty-minute Sunday race was run in the dry. Foley started the #96 car third and soon moved into the lead. He fell back on pit stops, handing off to Auberlen in fourth. Auberlen moved up to second over the course of his stint, where he finished behind Laurens Vanthoor and Zach Robichon in the #9 Porsche 911 GT3 R. Auberlen and Foley emerged from the race first in GTD points.
IMSA runs again at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on September 10–12.—Brian Morgan
[Photo of #96 courtesy Turner Motorsport. Photo of #95 courtesy BMW Motorsport.]
