In GT Daytona, Bill Auberlen put the crowning touch on a legendary career Saturday, taking sole possession of the all-time lead in IMSA race wins.
Finishing off the effort that teammate Robby Foley started in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3, Auberlen took the checkered flag in the GT Daytona class.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship win in the GT-only race gave the 51-year-old Auberlen his 61st IMSA victory in a career that spans more than three decades. Auberlen had been tied with Scott Pruett at 60 wins.
“It’s amazing,” Auberlen said. “I said my best career win was Petit Le Mans last year (win No. 60); I think this one has to top it. … It is probably the best win of my career. To do it with Robby, Turner, BMW, everybody, I’m super happy.”
Foley put the No. 96 in position to win as the opening driver in the two-hour, 40-minute race. Starting second in class, he gunned past pole winner Corey Fergus in the No. 76 Compass Racing McLaren 720S GT3 on the first lap and led the first hour. Foley remained near the front through varying pit strategies and was leading again when he turned over the No. 96 BMW to Auberlen with just under an hour remaining.
Once final pit stops cycled through, Auberlen led the final 53 minutes. He faced a strong challenge from the charging No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura NSX GT3, until driver Mario Farnbacher made an ambitious dive for the lead heading into Turn 1 with 43 minutes remaining. Farnbacher locked his brakes and slid into the grass, as Auberlen scooted away unscathed.
“He had a very fast car; that Acura was super quick,” Auberlen observed of Farnbacher. “I knew he was going to make an attempt on that lap because he was the closest he had been. Luckily, he really shoved it in and overshot it. And I was prepared for it; that’s why I didn’t turn in as he was sailing by. It gave me a gap to second place and then second, third and fourth had to battle together, and then I could just put my head down and run my laps as hard as I could all the way to the end.”
Win No. 61 came 27 years after Auberlen’s first, earned at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., in July 1993. While the closing minutes in Saturday’s record-setter weren’t pressure-packed from the outside, he admitted to big-time jitters as the laps wound down.
“This was the most nerve-racking hour of my life,” Auberlen said. “When I got to about 35 minutes, every little calculated mistake or whatever I was making, I would talk to myself: ‘Don’t blow this!’ This time it was all in my head, trying not to screw up, get this monkey off my back. Now we can put our head down for the season and try to win this championship.”
After his ill-fated attempt to take the lead, Farnbacher dropped to fourth place before making a frantic comeback to finish second with co-driver Matt McMurry. Farnbacher overtook Lawson Aschenbach in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 for third place with 11 minutes left on the clock.
On the last lap while tangling with a pair of GT Le Mans class cars, Farnbacher was able to slip past Bryan Sellers in the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 to salvage second place.
The No. 48, meanwhile, crossed the finish line third but was later moved to the rear of the field when post-race technical inspection revealed a fuel-capacity infraction. That elevated the No. 74 Mercedes to the final spot on the GTD podium.