Braselton, GA. -- October 14th, 2018 -- With high hopes of a strong finish on the 2018 season, Turner Motorsport entered the weekend prepared and poised for a podium finish in the 10-Hour Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

Drivers Don Yount, Dillon Machavern and Markus Palttala made their first appearance behind the wheel of the No. 96 BMW M6 GT3 since their exciting victory at Watkins Glen.

The team recorded quick times in all four practice sessions leading up to an eleventh place qualifying run set by Don Yount in the No. 96 LIQUI Moly BMW on Friday.

Yount went on to take the green flag in the 21st Annual Petit Le Mans earlier this morning on the 2.54-mile 12-corner road course before handing the car over to Dillon Machavern.

Machavern continued setting a solid pace before being collected into an incident on the front straight which catapulted the No. 96 LIQUI Moly BMW into the outside wall sustaining heavy damage ultimately ending the race just one hour and forty five minutes in. The broadcast footage can be found here.

Machavern commented, “What could have been an awesome race was cut short by an unfortunate move forcing our car into the wall. The car was fast all week and we were focused on a strong result. It was a super hard hit but luckily I am feeling ok. Want to say thank you to the entire team as well as my co-drivers for everything this season.”

The less than favorable result comes after several races filled with adversity for the team including Lime Rock Park and Laguna Seca. “Obviously this is not how we wanted to end our season,” said Will Turner. “We were looking to redeem ourselves from the bad luck suffered at Laguna Seca but unfortunately it just did not pan out that way. I want to thank all our sponsors, partners, fans and supporters for everything this season. We could not be doing this without LIQUI Moly, H&R Springs, Sonax, Pagid, Ohlins, Hilliard, 1620 Workwear, Gas Monkey and Southwest Funding. We look forward to being back in 2019 to put our BMW on the podium.”

With the season complete, the Turner Motorsport team looks to prepare for 2019 to solidify a GTD program with the BMW M6 GT3. Stay tuned for future announcements and plans from the team in the short offseason before the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January.