In a hard-fought Michelin Pilot Challenge race at the Road America circuit in Wisconsin, BMW teams put three M4 GT4s into the top ten, with the CarBahn Motorsports duo of Jeff Westphal and Sean McAlister (pictured above) getting the highest placed BMW in sixth. The #96 Turner Motorsport M4 GT4 of Robby Foley and Francis Selldorff finished right behind the #39 car in seventh, and the #95 Turner car of Dillon Machavern and Robert Megennis finished in ninth.
The BMWs were a bit off the pace of the fastest cars in qualifying, as the #69 McLaren Artura GT4 took the pole with a blistering 2:13.840 lap, which was seven-tenths quicker than the Toyota Supra GT4 EVO that qualified in second. The fastest BMW was Francis Selldorff in sixth, but he was over two seconds-per-lap slower than the McLaren. Sean McAlister qualified the #39 CarBahn BMW in seventh, and Dillon Machavern was fourteenth in the #95 Turner car. Paul Sparta qualified the #92 Random Vandals M4 GT4 in twentieth.
Francis Selldorff and Robby Foley finished seventh.
The #39 CarBahn BMW had issues at the start of the race, with Sean McAlister going off at the high-speed kink section of the track and later running wide in another corner. He dropped back to fifteenth position, but the team was able to work their way back into the top ten as the race progressed. The Turner BMWs performed well, with Selldorff moving up to fourth place in the #96 by the time they pitted, and Robert Megennis came out in fifth place after Machavern brought the #95 into the pits. Foley hit and spun one of the Porsches during the race while Megennis was directly behind him, but both were able to carry on and it was deemed a racing incident with no penalty.
Robert Megennis and Dillon Machavern finished seventh in the #95 Turner car.
Late in the race, the BMWs were running in the top ten as strategy played out with pit stops for fuel. A late race accident that involved one of the Toyota Supras led to a ten-minute shootout to the checkered flag, and the battle among sixth through tenth positions was intense. Kenton Koch was running in third in the #92 Random Vandals BMW with three laps to go and looked set to be on the podium but went into the pits with just a lap or two left after the engine shut off for no apparent reason. Jeff Westphal worked his way past the Turner BMWs to be the highest placed BMW in sixth, with the Turner cars finishing in seventh and ninth. The race was won by the #28 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4, which was the second consecutive victory for that team.
Random Vandals were set for a podium finish until the #92 cars engine shut off.
It’s not been BMW’s year in the Michelin Challenge. BMW won the GS class championship last year with Turner Motorsport and drivers Robby Foley and Vin Barletta, but BMW has yet to be on the podium this season. With just three races left, Robert Megennis and Dillon Machavern are the highest placed BMW drivers in the championship in fifth, while Robby Foley and Francis Selldorff are in ninth. —David Haueter
[Photos by LAT Images]