Auberlen Dalla Lama Win Miami Grand Prix GT Class Continental Tire Kia 200

Bill Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana won both the Miami Grand Prix GT class, and the Continental Tire Kia 200.

Paul Dalla Lana and Bill Auberlen drove the #94 Turner Motorsport BMW M3 to victory in the Rolex Grand Prix of Miami GT class. James Fish/The Epoch Times

HOMESTEAD, Fla.—Bill Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana won both the GT class of the Rolex Sports Car race, and also won the following Grand Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race, the Kia 200. Only once before in Grand Am history have drivers won a race in each series on a single day.

Auberlen praised the Turner Motorsport BMW crew for setting up the car perfectly for Homestead-Miami. “This team had a big wealth of experience coming from last year,” he said after the race. “We weren’t going to accept anything less than perfection on the set-up.

“Where everybody else’s car’s burned the tires off after ten, fifteen, twenty laps, ours was perfect through the whole stint.”

The GT win came in Auberlen’s 100th Rolex Series start, and was Dalla Lana’s first series win.

The Grand Prix of Miami was Auberlen’s 100th Rolex start and he finished in perfect fashion. “I wanted my 100th Rolex race to be a milestone,” Auberlen told TurnerMortorsport.com. “I knew we had the right car and I knew the team was ready to go.

“From the first lap in the GT car I knew we really had a winner. Add in perfect strategy, perfect pit stops, and it was quite easy. The transmission caused some concern in late laps, but today nothing could stop us.”

Defending winners Jeff Segal and Emil Assentato in the #69 FXDD Mazda RX-8 ran mid-pack for much of the race. The #69 began moving up in the final third of the race, taking second on lap 89 from Robin Liddell’s #57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro and held the sport until the checkered flag waved.  

Craig Stanton and John Potter’s #44 Magnus Racing Porsche GT3 Cup followed a similar course, fighting for third through the last half of the race to finally secure the position on lap 96. This was potter’s first Rolex GT podium and the sixth for Stanton, who won GT in 2005.

The podium finish gave Potter and Stanton the GT points lead with 58; Rolex 24 GT winners Steven Bertheau and Spencer Pumpelly in the #67 TRG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup lie second with 55.

Auberlen and Dalla Lama repeated their win in the Continental Tire Sports Car Kia 200, which followed the Rolex event. Only one other driving team has doubled up before: Terry Borcheller and Forest Barber won in both Daytona Prototype and GS II at Mid-Ohio on June 29, 2003.

Please see the Kia 200 race report (Auberlen Dalla Lama Double Up With Win in Kia 200) for details of their record-tying win.

The next Grand Am Rolex event will be the Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama on April 9, along with the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Barber 200 on the 9th and IndyCar’s Grand Prix of Alabama a on the 10th—a great weekend of racing. Tickets are available through the Barber Motorsports Park website.

Next: Full GT Results 

 

Grand Am Rolex Grand Prix of Miami GT Results
	#	Drivers	Team/ Car	Laps	Sponsor
1	94	Auberlen / Dalla Lana	Turner Motorsport / BMW M3	112	Turner Motorsport
2	69	Assentato / Segal	SpeedSource / Mazda RX-8	112	FXDD
3	44	Potter / Stanton	Magnus Racing / Porsche GT3	112	Magnus Racing
4	70	Bomarito / Tremblay	SpeedSource / Mazda RX-8	112	Mazda Speed, Castrol Edge
5	41	Cameron / Gue	Dempsey Racing / Mazda RX-8	112	Seattle Childrens Hospital, JG Sport, Global Diving
6	88	Lester / Taylor	Autohaus Motorsports / Camaro GT.R	112	Autohaus Motorsports
7	59	Davis / Keen	Brumos Racing / Porsche GT3	111
8	07	Gavin / Schaldach	Banner Racing / Camaro GT.R	111	The Cool TV
9	42	Gidley / Nonnamaker	Team Sahlen / Mazda RX-8	111	Theracesite.com
10	43	Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker	Team Sahlen / Mazda RX-8	111	Theracesite.com
11	67	Bertheau / Pumpelly	TRG / Porsche GT3	110	Sargent & Lundy/ TIC
12	49	Nonnamaker / Sahlen	Team Sahlen / Mazda RX-8	109	Theracesite.com
13	63	Grupp / Trinkler	Team Spencer Motorsports / Mazda RX-8	108
14	72	Grant / Grant / Grant	Grant Racing/901 Shop / Porsche GT3	108
15	30	Heylen / Smith	Racers Edge Motorsports / Mazda RX-8	107	Maxwell Paper Co., 3-Dimensional.com, IDEMITSU
16	57	Liddell / Magnussen	Stevenson Motorsports / Camaro GT.R	96	Stevenson Automotive Group
17	31	Curran / Said	Marsh Racing / Corvette	61	Wheelen Engineering
18	40	Dempsey / Foster	Dempsey Racing / Mazda RX-8	19	Visit Florida, Modspace, Construct Corps
19	11	James / Nastasi	TPN Racing/Blackforest / Ford Mustang	18	Borla, Racetec, Summit Financial, Gary Yeomans Ford