TMS Pumped for Rolex 24 - New Car and Top Drivers - The Ingredients for Success

NEW CAR, TOP DRIVERS, WINNING TEAM: THE INGREDIENTS FOR SUCCESS

Countless hours of planning, design, and hard work at the Turner Motorsport BMW race shop will bear fruit next week with the team's second entry into the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. But tune in this weekend for a special preview, featuring the Turner Motorsport team, on the FX and Speed television networks that will showcase the team's preparation and development for the upcoming race. Last year's "Dream Team" line-up of drivers have returned in a quest for victory. The four drivers in the Turner Motorsport team include two past winners of the Rolex 24 and two fast and experienced up-and-comers. Their entry this year will come from a brand-new BMW E92 M3 in the GT class.

Bill Auberlen and Boris Said are back in the familiar blue and yellow livery to have another go at winning more Rolex 24 honors. Both drivers are previous class winners of this race, driving BMW M3s. Auberlen also drives for the factory BMW Motorsport team in the American Le Mans Series while Said has earned drives in the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide series. They are joined again by Paul Dalla Lana who has raced with TMS since 2009, including last year's Rolex GT season. Both Auberlen and Dalla Lana will be driving the M3 GT for the 2011 season. Rounding out the Rolex 24 line-up is Rolex and Continental Sports Car regular Matt Plumb. Plumb has enjoyed a solid career in motorsports since 1999, racing in the Rolex GT class since 2002 and in the Daytona Prototype class in 2008.

"We're aiming for nothing less than a win this year," says team owner Will Turner. "Our car is a brand-new, from the ground up chassis, and it did very well in testing. And our experience from last year's Daytona 24 is going to translate into a stronger team for this year's big event. Our experienced crew means we're able to focus more on making the car faster rather than fixing little problems. And our driver line-up is as strong as ever. I'm pumped!"

This weekend the FX and Speed networks will be broadcasting a preview of the Rolex 24 race. Turner Motorsport is one of the teams featured in the show, which will pay a visit to the TMS racing shop to watch the build and development of the new M3 GT chassis. The Rolex 24 Preview will be broadcast on the FX Network on Saturday night at 11:00pm ET. It will repeat on the Speed Channel on Sunday and again next week.

The M3 GT racecar is built from a tube-frame Riley Technologies chassis with a carbon fiber body. The car was built up in the Turner Motorsport shop from a bare shell and weighs 2,650 lbs. The engine is a BMW S62 5.0-liter V8 built to race specifications and running a Bosch Motorsport engine management. The Turner car is equipped with StopTech Brakes, Forgeline Wheels, and Continental racing tires. During the "Roar Before the Rolex 24" official test sessions, the M3 GT was on the pace and performed flawlessly.

The Turner team will also be entering two E92 M3 racecars in the GS class of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series. Last year, the #97 Turner Motorsport M3 with Michael Marsal and Joey Hand finished second overall in the Team Championship. Both drivers will return to the Continental Tires series with the same #97 Marsal-Alvarez/Turner Motorsport M3. Also returning to the GS class will be Rolex 24 teammates Paul Dalla Lana and Bill Auberlen. They will be behind the wheel of the #96 NorthWest/Turner Motorsport BMW M3. The GS class race is slated for Friday afternoon at 1:30pm ET. It will be broadcast on the Speed Channel on February 5 at 3:00pm ET.

Live TV coverage of the Rolex 24 at Daytona will be provided by Speed Channel on Saturday January 29 at 3:00 PM ET.

About Turner Motorsport
Turner Motorsport is the leading BMW tuner in North America, bringing technology and expertise from the racetrack to the street. Turner Motorsport is not about clever marketing tricks or gimmicks. Racetrack results speak themselves. The Turner Motorsport team has won five professional racing championships in two different series since 2003. This storied success is passed into every component that Turner Motorsport designs and sells through their website catalog. Our race team, R&D engineers and Sales team work together, allowing practical knowledge and state-of-the-art engineering to flow in both directions. Few companies in North America can claim such a close relationship to what they sell and what they race.

2011 ROLEX GT SCHEDULE
Jan. 27-30 | Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach FL
LIVE television coverage begins, Saturday, Jan 29 at 3:00pm ET

March 4-5 | Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead FL
April 7-9 | Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham AL
May 13-14 | Virginia International Raceway, Alton VA
May 29-30 | Lime Rock Park, Lakeville CT
June 3-4 | Watkins Glen, NY
June 23-25 | Road America, Elkhart Lake, WI
July 8-9 | Laguna Seca, Salinas, CA
July 22-24 | New Jersey Motorsports Park, Millville, NJ
August 12-13 | Watkins Glen, NY
August 19-20 | Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, QC
September 16-17 | Mid Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, OH

The SPEED Channel will provide LIVE TV broadcast for all Rolex GT races, and tape delay coverage for Continental Tire Challenge races throughout the year. Stay tuned to TMSRacing.com or SPEEDTV.com for broadcast dates and times.

Links
TurnerMotorsport.com - homepage for Turner Motorsport Performance and Service Parts for BMW
Grand-Am Road Racing Homepage