Tough 10th For Michael Marsal in Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen

Watkins Glen, N.Y.  (3 July 2016) – Michael Marsal and his Turner Motorsport co-driver Markus Palttala finished 10th in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen on Sunday after the duo fought to the finish following an early-race setback.

The event marked Round 5 of the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with the traditional upstate New York race also staging the penultimate round of the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup Championship competition.

Marsal opened the race from the driver seat, having secured ninth on the GTD class grid in qualifying on Saturday. The six hour enduro got off to a fast and clean start, with Marsal slotting into the top-10 in the opening stages of the race.

Turner Motorsport tested on the all-new pavement ahead of the race weekend, and that data was a useful tool as the team found a quick but comfortable set-up for the No. 97 Alvarez & Marsal/IHG Rewards Club BMW M6 GT3.

But that early momentum was halted as Marsal looked to find a way by traffic before his first pit stop, and instead suffered a quick off track excursion.

“We were faster than the (No.) 33 car, but he was so good on the straights that it was really hard to get by him and get going,” said Marsal. “But then he made a mistake and it looked like it was my chance to get around him. But when I went on the outside, I hit the wall at the exit hard enough to cause damage. I’m really disappointed because the car was good and it was so early in the race.”

The Turner Motorsport squad jumped into action as Marsal delivered the blue and yellow BMW M3 to the team transporter, getting the car up on jacks and immediately dismantling the suspension components on the left side of the car and getting to work with replacement units.

The car returned to the track 39th in the overall order, with Marsal and then Palttala clicking off the laps to move up to a 10th place GTD class finish.

“The Turner Motorsport guys did an awesome job with the repairs, but it was a big one, so we lost a lot of time in the garage,” said Marsal. “The car was as fast as it had been all weekend. So it was fun to drive it but of course I wish we could have avoided the problem earlier and brought home a bigger result. But we had a solid car and hopefully we can bring home some good points next weekend at Mosport.”