Turner Motorsport's Paul Dalla Lana wins BMW Sports Trophy

BMW names Turner Motorsport driver as world's most successful privateer BMW race driver of 2011.

Munich, Germany - November 26, 2011 - Besting more than 235 BMW racing drivers from across the world Turner Motorsport driver Paul Dalla Lana was awarded the 2011 BMW Sports Trophy as the most successful privateer BMW driver of 2011. The 45-year old from Toronto, Ontario, Canada accepted a check in the amount of 30,000 Euros from BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt at the annual Sport Trophy Award Ceremony, held in the Double Cone building at Munich's BMW Welt.

"Congratulations to Paul Dalla Lana," said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt. "He caused a sensation in several classes in the GRAND-AM Series, in which he was a regular on the podium. It is no coincidence that a driver from Canada tops our privateer standings this year. The interest in motorsport across the Atlantic is immense, and the drivers in the North American series are also well aware that driving a BMW car significantly increases their chances."

The BMW Sports Trophy, now in its 50th year, honors the top private BMW drivers in the world as part of BMW Motorsport's Customer Racing program.

In only his second year of professional sports car racing Dalla Lana drove Turner Motorsport BMW M3s in a combined 22 GRAND-AM races winning the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Grand Sports (GS) Driver Championship to lead Turner Motorsport to the GS Team Championship and BMW to the GS Manufacturer's title.

In GS competition, five consecutive podium finishes started his season, including a win at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The balance of the season included four top-10 finishes. In Rolex GT, three consecutive podium finishes included wins at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Barber Motorsports Park. Five top-10 finishes including two top-5's finished off the year.

Dalla Lana started the season at the 24 Hours of Dubai with a fifth place finish in the No. 77 Need for Speed 2 BMW Z4 GT3.

"Congratulations to Paul on being recognized as the top privateer BMW racer in the world," said Will Turner. "It is a testament to the hard work and professionalism of Paul and everyone at Turner Motorsport. I am delighted that Michael, Bill, Joey and I could attend the event and celebrate with Paul. We had a great time, and the day before the party we spent time in meetings at BMW Motorsport to further our relationship and make future racing plans."

#94 Turner Motorsport BMW M3: Paul Dalla Lana, Billy Johnson

Photo by: Ted Rossino