Late Repairs Set Stage for Turner Motorsport BMW Victory

Subtitle:Notes and Quotes from the Northeast Grand Prix

There were big smiles atop the Turner Motorsport pit box following Saturday’s Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park, when Michael Marsal and 

Dane Cameron gave the team its first GT Daytona (GTD) victory of the season. 

However, there may have been bigger smiles in the team pits at 8:20 a.m. that morning, when Cameron recorded the fastest lap in the warm-up session. That meant the team would have a competitive car, after its participation was in doubt following a crash in Friday morning’s opening that badly damaged the right-rear frame of the No. 97 BMW Z4 GTE.“We didn’t know if we would be able to race until after the warm-up,” said team strategist Don Salama. “I really had my doubts that we could fix the car that quickly after the incident.”After the Turn 5 incident, the team quickly determined that repairs couldn’t be done at the race track. One option would be to get a new car from its shop in Amesbury, Massachusetts, but there would not be enough time to properly set up the electronics for the race. Another option remained, and the team took it. The car was taken by flatbed to the Autoworks Unlimited shop near Torrington, Connecticut – one hour from the track. Autoworks Unlimited handles the towing at Lime Rock, and conveniently had a truck located on the grounds. The BMW was at the shop from 3-8:30 p.m., where shop owner Mike George put the car on the frame machine and helped three Turner crewmen straighten it out. Then it was back to the track, where the Turner crew worked until 1 a.m. to finish up the work.“They worked their butts off like they normally do,” said Turner Motorsport Director of Racing Shawn Passen.“It was an incredible effort, getting the car ready in less than 24 hours,” Salama said. “We weren’t sure if it was straightened out enough until the warm-up, but actually, it handled pretty well.”With a competitive car, Salama had one more trick up his sleeve. Gambling with an aggressive fuel mapping, the team made only one pit stop in the two-hour, 40-minute race, giving Marsal his first victory at his home track while marking a successful homecoming for Cameron – who won the 2014 GTD title for Turner Motorsport before moving to the Prototype ranks this season.Team regular Markus Palttala also had a successful weekend, where he lapped the field in taking the overall victory in a BMW Z4 GTE for the Belgian Marc VDS team in the 24 Hours of Spa. Joining him in the victory was another TUDOR Championship regular, BMW Team RLL driver Lucas Luhr.No Place Like Home For Kimber-Smith:  When Tom Kimber-Smith decided to relocate his family to America from England, the former Dyson Racing driver decided there was no better place than Pleasant Valley, New York for his adopted home.Saturday, Kimber-Smith made himself at home at his local track, joining car owner Mike Guasch in winning their third Prototype Challenge (PC) race of the season at Lime Rock Park, located one hour from his new home.Kimber-Smith passed Indy 500 veteran Bruno Junqueira for the lead with 35 minutes remaining in the two-hour, 40-minute race, and led the final 25 laps in the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Cuttwood ORECA FLM09.“I think I had more fans here today than I used to have at Silverstone (England),” Kimber-Smith said after the race. “It’s great to have another victory. We’ve had a lot of bad luck this year. Coming into this race we knew we needed to win to keep in the championship bout. Now we’re back in the championship hunt.”The victory tightened the PC championship battle. CORE autosport drivers Jon Bennett and Colin Braun managed to retain the lead with a fourth-place finish, with Guasch and Kimber-Smith closing to within three points, 222-219.Paul Miller Racing Streak Ended: An incident with the then-leading PC car resulted in a DNF for the Paul Miller Racing No. 48 Audi R8 LMS, and also ended a six-race top-five finishing streak that began with a victory in last year’s season-ending Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda.Dion von Moltke won his class-leading second TOTAL Pole Award and led every lap of his hour-long opening stint. Christopher Haase then took over and regained the lead after the remainder of the field made pit stops, but was taken out in the incident only five minutes later.“Things happen in racing,” Haase said. “We should now focus on our next races and forget about this one, but it’s definitely disappointing because we had a shot for the victory.”Nielsen Closes On Lead With Podium Finish: Christina Nielsen scored her third podium finish of the season in the No. 007 TRG-AMR Royal Purple/Orion/LaSalle Solutions/Passtime USA Aston Martin Vantage to close to within five points of championship leaders von Moltke and Haase, 171-166, with only four races remaining. Nielsen was running second when she turned the car over to new co-driver Kuno Wittmer at the halfway point. “I have confidence in our drivers and team for an even better performance at Road America,” said team owner Kevin Buckler. “That’s a track in which we have a long and successful history, and one that favors the strengths of our Aston Martin.”Compass360 Audi Debuts: Ray Mason and Pierre Kleinubing finished eighth in the No. 76 AERO Advanced Paint Technology/Children’s Tumor Foundation Audi R8 LMS, the first TUDOR Championship race for Compass360 Racing.“We’re reasonably happy,” said Compass360 team owner Karl Thomson. “The car ran flawlessly and finished eighth, and Pierre was able to match the speeds of the top group. We’ll take it. Lime Rock is challenging because it’s a short track and it’s easy to get lapped. I think we’ll be more competitive at Road America, which is a four-mile track.”