Darren Turner ticked off another box when he wrapped up the 2025 GT World Challenge America [GTWC US] season with a fourth-place finish in the season finale, held on the world-famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.439-mile road course.
In a career spanning four decades, the works Aston Martin driver has achieved many of his ambitions, but until last weekend, competing at the venue which is home to the Indianapolis 500 – arguably the most famous race of them all – was not one of them.
“As soon as you arrive you are aware of the aura of the place,” said Turner. “You drive into the circuit through a tunnel underneath Turn 2 of the oval, and you see all those famous grandstands spread out in front of you. I honestly didn’t expect it to be quite so big. It’s a special place.”
Certainly, a fitting venue to end a strong first season in the GTWC US; a 13-round campaign that included three Pro-Am class podiums for the 51-year-old, racing alongside Gray Newell in The Heart of Racing [THOR] team’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3. That tally, as well as the result at Indianapolis was enough to secure the duo fourth in the overall class standings.
“I’m really proud of what Gray and I have achieved with the team in its first year in the championship,” said Turner. “I’ve loved this championship. I’ve always said that racing in America is special. The circuits are amazing, but it’s not just that… the way the Americans go racing is so much fun, they really embrace the spirit of it all from drivers and team members through to the officials and the fans. The atmosphere is superb.”
That spirit was called upon in spades during the 8 Hours finale, which was effectively cut in half by hostile weather at the four-hour mark. Until then, Turner, Newell and their endurance teammate Zacharie Robichon – an IMSA GTD class champion and THOR’s current WEC and IMSA GT ‘Silver’-rated driver – had been chasing another podium.
“We’d not really had the pace at the beginning of practice, and even into qualifying,” explained Turner. “But our engineer Elliot, who was competing with us for the last time before going travelling around the world, along with Zach, who had raced here last month in IMSA, did a great job of helping us getting dialled in.
“By the time the race came around, we were in good shape with the car.”
Each of the three drivers was required to contribute to qualifying, and their combined time was good enough for fifth in the Pro-Am Class grid. Newell took the start and delivered a typically solid first hour’s performance.
“Gray has just been impeccable all year long,” said Turner. “He’s really got his head around the GT3 car, which is not easy, and he’s barely made any mistakes. When he is in the car, watching him on the onboard is satisfying because he’s right on-line and braking where he should. He’s elevated himself to another level and he’s done a super job.”
Newell’s opening stint also included a robust move on the Turner Motorsports BMW into Turn 1 for fifth position; “That whole stint was fast, impressive and not easy to deliver.”
Newell pitted and handed the Aston Martin over to Turner in the same position for the second hour of the race, the #27 car still very much in the hunt for a podium shot. Darren then got his head down and put on a familiar charge.
“The road course itself is not the most exciting, but there is a nice technical section from Turn 7 through to 10 and on the whole, it is quite challenging to get right,” said Turner. “Finding the rhythm of the circuit takes time, but once I got my head around it, I got in the groove.”
Having made a couple of decisive on-track passes, Turner rose to second place in class through the second pitstop phase. Handing the car back over to Newell so that the team could try and work through his time allocation before the anticipated bad weather, Turner couldn’t possibly know his work for the day was already done.
Robichon took the wheel in the fourth hour from Newell and things were looking strong. “Zach was absolutely flying,” said Turner. “He’s a cool dude. I’ve never raced with him before, but he is super-fast, no-nonsense and just gets on with it.”
The Canadian worked his way up to fourth and was in pursuit of third place when the race was paused for an electrical storm at half distance. That weather hit ‘Indy’ with force so when the race was resumed some two and a half hours later, only two laps run during the following 90 minutes were completed at racing speed, the rest were achieved behind the Safety Car, and all with Robichon at the wheel of the Aston Martin. This ended any hopes of a final podium flourish.
Turner can look back on his first full season of competition with THOR with satisfaction. Together they achieved a 100% finishing record, with a highlight class second place at Virginia International Raceway on Darren’s circuit debut during a sequence of mid-season finishes.
“It’s funny, it’s six years since I first raced with THOR,” said Turner, “but this is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to complete a full season with the team. Moreover, it’s the first full season I’ve completed for a couple of years, so it’s been great to be back in regular racing action.
“I have to say that THOR has made the whole experience an absolute pleasure. They are just a great team; every individual is dedicated and hard-working and they are all lovely people. They’re so much fun, that you know when you race with them, you’re going to really enjoy yourself. You couldn’t ask for anything more as a racing driver.”