Bill Auberlen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bill Auberlen is a race car driver born in Redondo Beach, California, USA on 12 October 1968.
He was the Grand-Am GT Series champion in 2002 and 2004.
Auberlen currently drives a BMW M3 in the GT class for Sigalsport, a BMW M3 for Turner Motorsport in the Grand-Am GS class and an M3 for BMW's Prototype Technology Group PTG team in the American Le Mans Series.
His career started in the 1970s in motocross, with Auberlen moving to IMSA Series GTU in 1987. He stayed there until 1997, his last year resulting in him winning the championship. During his time in the IMSA Series he had also become the 1996 Peruvian Formula Three champion.
Other competitions Auberlen has competed in during his career include the 1999 World Sportscar Championship and the American Le Mans Series (1999-2003), driving a BMW V12 LMR in 1999 and 2000 for Schnitzer Motorsport. During the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in 2000, his BMW did a spectacular back flip over a hump.
Auberlen briefly stepped up to Grand-Am's Daytona Prototype class in 2003, in addition to driving a BMW 325i for Turner Motorsport in the touring car series. Auberlen won both the 2003 and 2004 Speed World Challenge Touring Car Championship behind the wheel of a Turner Motorsport BMW 325i. By doing so, Auberlen ended an eight year Honda / Acura domination of the series.
For 2004, Auberlen dedicated himself to the production-based GT class for BMW Motorsport's Prototype Technology Group team, earning the series championship for BMW.
In 2005, Auberlen continued to drive for BMW PTG in Grand-Am's GT series, while also driving for Panoz Racing in IMSA's American Le Mans Series. In 2006, Auberlen is once again exclusively driving BMW's — an M3 for Sigalsport's Grand-Am GT team, an M3 for Turner's Grand-Am team and an M3 for BMW PTG's ALMS team.
