Photo by: David Yowe
AMESBURY, MA. - Turner Motorsport returns home after competing in the Pirelli World Challenge season opener in St. Petersburg, Florida. The team had made a late decision to enter the Grand Prix of St. Pete, going back to its roots in sprint racing, entering a Pirelli World Challenge race for the first time since 2006. The race set a new World Challenge entry record with over fifty cars, attracting many new "GT3" spec cars including the BMW Z4 GT3.
Dane Cameron piloted the blue and yellow Turner BMW to the top of Friday's first practice session time sheets. Cameron was able to set into a comfortable and consistent pace in Friday's time on track, qualifying the No. 94 BMW Z4 P3 for Saturday's race.The weekend's first fifty minute sprint race scheduled for Saturday afternoon was cancelled due to heavy rain, the decision was made by Pirelli World Challenge officials to call the race to prevent any unnecessary incidents.
Will Turner commented, "We were really looking forward to running our BMW Z4 in the rain for Saturday's race. We have actually never raced our new Z4 in the rain but have heard they are phenomenal. We understood the officials call but would of loved to get Dane in the car to run the race. "
In Sunday's race Dane Cameron started on the second row in P3 for the standing start. Due to a technical issue with the starting lights at the front of the grid, Cameron and several other top qualifying cars were passed instantly. As a result, Cameron fell back to P16 by turn one of the 1.8 mile, 14 turn street course.
By Lap 13 Cameron was able to fight back into the top ten, grabbing seventh place. Following a full course caution Cameron battled in the top seven, most notably with the Lamborghini Gallardo of Prince Albert Won Thurn Und Taxis. As a result of the intense battle, light contact caused suspension damage in the BMW of Cameron, preventing him from finishing the race, ultimately finishing P18.
Dane Cameron Said, "Racing the Turner BMW in the Pirelli World Challenge was a lot of fun, the car was very competitive and a blast to drive, especially with the variety of competing cars in the GT class. Unfortunately we did not get the start we wanted but we were able to battle back and run inside the top ten for much of the race."
Be sure to TUNE IN on Sunday, April 6th at 5:30pm ET on the NBC Sports Network to watch the full race coverage from St. Petersburg. Don't miss the first round of the 2014 Pirelli World Challenge and all the new and exciting cars.
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