With the “Roar Before the 24” IMSA test days coming up at Daytona next weekend and the season-opening Rolex 24 the weekend after, both Turner Motorsport and Paul Miller Racing have announced driver lineups for the race and the full season.
As previously reported, Turner Motorsport will be competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as well as the Michelin Pilot Challenge and VP Racing SportsCar Challenge series in 2023, but new details were announced on Friday. Most notably, the team will compete in both the GTD PRO and GTD classes with the #95 M4 GT3, with the trio of Bill Auberlen, Chandler Hull, and John Edwards competing in the GTD PRO class in the four Endurance Cup races (Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Road Atlanta), with Bruno Spengler joining them for Daytona. Auberlen and Hull will also compete in the GTD class in the shorter Sprint Cup races with the same car.
The Turner Motorsport #96 M4 GT3 will compete in the GTD class for the full season with drivers Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher, with Michael Dinan joining them for the Endurance Cup races and works driver Jens Klingmann joining them for Daytona. Gallagher has a great deal of experience in everything from formula cars to stock cars and sports cars and will be a strong pairing with Foley, who has co-driven with Auberlen over the last few seasons.
In Michelin Pilot Challenge, Turner will enter a pair of new M4 GT4s, with Rob Megennis and Cameron Lawrence driving in the #95 car and Robby Foley and Vin Barletta paired up once again in the #96 car. Bill Auberlen has been a regular in this series for Turner for the last several years, but will be focused on the WeatherTech series in 2023. In the new VP Racing SportsCar Challenge sprint race series, Turner will compete with a pair of F82 generation M4 GT4s with drivers Francis Selldorff and Vin Barletta. Racing fans who have been following Turner Motorsport for a long time may recognize the Selldorff name, as Francis’ father Frank drove with Turner in the World Challenge series twenty years ago.
Defending IMSA Sprint Cup champions Paul Miller Racing will also return to the GTD class in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2023 with drivers Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow. They will be joined by Corey Lewis in the four Endurance Cup races, with works driver Maxime Martin joining the team for the Daytona race. Lewis previously drove for the team in the 2018-2021 seasons, driving the Lamborghini Huracan GT3.
Roar Before the 24 testing will take place at Daytona on the weekend of January 20th-22nd, with the first two VP Racing SportsCar Challenge races also taking place during the Roar test days. The Rolex 24 at Daytona and Michelin Pilot Challenge races will take place the weekend of January 27th-29th. —David Haueter
[Photos by Turner Motorsport, Paul Miller Racing]
