LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 21, 2024) – Turner Motorsport finished on the second step of the podium for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Patrick Gallagher qualified seventh for Saturday’s 100-minute race and stayed out of trouble around the unforgiving street circuit before handing the No. 96 BMW M4 GT3 off to Robby Foley in sixth position. Team strategist, Don Salama, opted out of tires during the single pit stop. Foley made a pass around the No. 27 of Spencer Pumpelly, and the quicker stop allowed Foley to leapfrog up to second once the field cycled through the pits. The BMW Works driver showed excellent skill managing tires as he held off the No. 32 of Mikael Grenier to park the LiquiMoly-liveried BMW in second behind the No. 89 of Ben Burnicoat. The podium finish was the first for Turner Motorsport in the 2024 IMSA season and moves the team into second in the championship points standings going into Laguna Seca.
“We have the best guys in the business on pit lane and had a really good stop, which we knew we needed to leapfrog everybody,” said Gallagher. “The strategy here is always whether you take tires or not, and we worked on (maintaining tire life) all week long to put us in this situation.”
In GT America, Justin Rothberg tackled his first street circuit in fine fashion earning two top-five finishes. The No. 29 BMW M4 GT3 qualified fourth for Saturday’s race, and Rothberg held off the No. 32 of Kyle Washington to maintain position throughout the 40-minute race. The script for Sunday’s race was similar with Rothberg taking the green flag from fifth place. He took over fourth position after Washington was issued a drive-though penalty, and held off the No. 70 of Mika Schultis to give the LATICRETE BMW another strong fourth place finish.
Will Turner, team owner, had high praise for his whole team executing the double header weekend, “Great weekend with a podium finish in the IMSA race and two top-five finishes in the SRO race. The drivers kept their cars clean all weekend – something very tough to do on a street circuit. The second-place finish is also a result of a pit stop by my awesome crew.”
The IMSA season resumes with the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge in Monterey, Calif. at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on May 10-12. The SRO season continues with the Fanatec GT World Challenge and GT America in Sebring, Fla. at Sebring International Raceway May 3-5.
