Turner Motorsport brought its 2014 race car, a Z4 running in the Tudor United SportsCar Championship GTD class, to the series’ test days in Daytona in November. The car had been on the track just once before, for a test at Road Atlanta with Paul Dalla Lana at the wheel. At Daytona, the Z4 was driven by Dalla Lana, Dane Cameron, and Pedro Lamy.
It is early days for the Z4, a car that was a European Z4 GT3 racer before coming to the U.S.; both the GTD rules and the specs for the car itself are still being adjusted. Dane Cameron told racer.com, “We're struggling a little as we adjust the car from GT3 to GTD specifications. We're mainly coming to grips with the larger new wing that is used in GTD, and we're trying to regain the car's balance. It's still a work in progress.”
The GTD class itself is shaping up as formidable; the quickest among the nineteen GTD cars at Daytona was a Viper, at home on the high horsepower Daytona circuit. A brace of fast cars that included Porsches, Audis, and Ferraris was on hand as well. Turner’s Z4, running the familiar yellow Turner Motorsport livery and the number 94, was the only Z4 in the pack.
Paul Dalla Lana will drive the car in TUSC competition along with a yet-to-be-announced co-driver. Dalla Lana will also drive an Aston Martin in the GTLM class, where the Team RLL Z4s run.
The next official TUSC test session is the Roar Before the Rolex 24 at Daytona on January 3-5.—Brian S. Morgan
