Turner Motorsport Building Momentum for Stretch Run

The No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 of Jens Klingmann and Jesse Krohn finished second in the GT Daytona (GTD) class in last Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway. It nearly was the team’s second straight GTD victory.

The No. 16 Change Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 co-driven by Jeroen Mul and Corey Lewis dominated the entire weekend. They led the GTD class in every practice session, Mul taking his second straight TOTAL Pole Award and the co-drivers combining to lead every lap in the race. That did not deter Klingmann as he closed on Lewis coming to the white flag for the final lap of the race.

Tommy Milner, in the No. 4 Corvette, slowed Lewis’ momentum as he was trying to limp the car home after being involved in an earlier incident. Klingmann knew that if he was going to have a chance, this was it, but he’d have to be careful.

“You normally overtake in Turn 1 or at the end of the back straight,” Klingmann said. “In Turn 1, he dropped to the inside, so there was no chance. Also, it was the last lap, so you’re trying, but on the other hand, you don’t want to throw away a good race, a clean race finishing P2. It’s good for the points, and you just try to bring it back home and get the maximum effort out of it and not crash the car. Luckily, there was nobody behind us, so I could risk a little, but then I gave up quite quickly.”

The result turned out to be good for the points, as Klingmann and the No. 96 team moved into the top three in the GTD standings with their second consecutive podium result. Defending WeatherTech Championship GTD champions Christina Nielsen and Alessandro Balzan lead the standings, having earned 282 points in their No. 63 Ferrari 488 GT3.

Second is the No. 33 Riley Motorsports-Team AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 and Jeroen Bleekemolen (whose co-driver, Ben Keating, did not compete at VIR as he returned to his home in Texas due to Hurricane Harvey) with 269 points. The No. 96 team and Klingmann – who has co-driven each of the last three races with Krohn after previously sharing the seat with Bret Curtis – are third with 252 points.

Klingmann believes the team is ready for a final push in the last two races of the season – the America’s Tire 250 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Sept. 24 and the Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on Oct. 7.

“We had some good races before, some of them unlucky this season, but we’ve always had a good pace and always had good speed,” Klingmann said. “Now, with Jesse, he’s always up front in qualifying, which helps us position the car. From the front, it’s always easier to start. You can get a lot of momentum. We’re always good on the pit stops, always been one of the quickest, and sometimes the quickest.

“Now there are two more races to come in our championship. We are P3, but everything is quite close, at least around P3. Being in the top three of the championship was our goal at the beginning of the season. We have two good races coming up, and I think we are in a good spot. We have a good car, we have a good team, and with Jesse now, we’re looking forward.”