The Michelin Pilot Challenge series visited the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Ohio this past weekend for the fourth round of their championship. It was the first race weekend this season where the series had top billing and is one of only two four-hour races on the schedule, with the other being the opening round at Daytona in January.
There were four BMW M4 GT4 EVO entries at Mid-Ohio, with two from Turner Motorsport, and one each from Auto Technic Racing and CarBahn with Peregrine Racing. There was a total of 23 entries in the GS class from seven different manufacturers. In qualifying, Dillon Machavern was the fastest of the BMWs in the #95 Turner entry that he shares with Francis Selldorff (shown in top photo), setting a fast time of 1:26.508 that was good enough for third on the grid and less than two-tenths of a second off the pole time of the #14 Porsche. Sean McAlister was right behind Machavern in fourth in the #39 CarBahn car that he shares with Jeff Westphal.
Auto Technic Racing finished a strong fifth.
In the opening stages of the race, Machavern moved up to second and stayed with the leading Porsche while McAlister dropped one position back to fifth. Through the course of the race, which had seven full-course cautions, all four of the BMWs were running in strong positions at various points, with the #95 and #39 cars always toward the front. The #96 Turner entry of Vin Barletta and Patrick Gallagher was also running in the top six by the end of the race, as was the Auto Technic Racing entry of Stevan McAleer, Austin Krainz and Roland Krainz.
It all came down to the last hour of racing, which was influenced by a couple of restarts after caution periods. Francis Selldorff was in the lead in the #95 Turner car, Jeff Westphal was right behind him in second in the #39 CarBahn car, and Stevan McAleer was running in fifth in the #27 Auto Technic Racing car. The #96 Turner car fell back with 23 minutes left in the race after contact with the #27 while both were fighting for position with the #44 McLaren.
The #96 Turner Motorsport car was running toward the front but ended up 16th.
That incident with the two BMWs and the McLaren brought out the last caution, which bunched the top group of cars together for a fifteen-minute dash to the end of the race. Selldorff was at the point but had the least racing experience by far of the six drivers behind him, who were all top pro drivers and former champions. Selldorff did a masterful job of keeping his cool under pressure first from Westphal, who unfortunately had to retire with just minutes left in the race from what appeared to be a halfshaft failure, and then from Jan Heylen in the #28 Porsche.
The CarBahn M4 GT4 EVO was running seconds with minutes in the race before suffering a DNF.
In the final laps, Daniel Morad in a Mercedes-AMG got around Jan Heylen’s Porsche and set off after Sellfdorff, but Selldorff didn’t put a wheel wrong and held on for the win. It was the 30th victory for Turner Motorsport in the GS class but also their first win in the class since Watkins Glen in 2023. The win was the first for Selldorff in the series and the seventh for Machavern. “It’s always easier when you’re given the car in the lead and the team has awesome pit stops,” said Selldorff. “We had to do a little bit of fuel saving in the beginning, and it was looking good, then it was yellow after yellow. I just tried to nail the restarts, get a little bit of a gap, and get good exits everywhere I could. Our car was fast today, so it was about managing and holding on. Obviously, it was stressful, but I was so focused on staying calm and it all worked out, and I’m very grateful.”
Francis Selldorff (right) and Dillon Machavern celebrate their victory. (Photo courtesy LAT Images)
The #27 Auto Technic Racing M4 GT3 EVO also had a strong race, finishing fifth with the father-son duo of Roland and Austin Krainz and Stevan McAleer. The next race for the Michelin Pilot Challenge series will be at Watkins Glen on June 21st.
—David Haueter
[Photos by David Haueter]
