Colin Turkington

Colin Turkington

Nationality United Kingdom British
Born (1982-03-21) 21 March 1982
Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland
Related to Gary Turkington (brother)
British Touring Car Championship career
Debut season 2002
Current team Silverline Subaru BMR Racing
Car no. 4
Former teams VX Racing
eBay Motors
Starts 332
Wins 41
Poles 17
Fastest laps 39
Best finish 1st in 2009, 2014
Previous series
2013
2007, 2010–12
2011
2000–01		 Superstars Series
WTCC
STCC
Ford Fiesta Cup
Championship titles
2009, 2014
2001		 BTCC
Ford Fiesta Cup
Awards
2009, 2014 Autosport National Driver of the Year

Colin Henry Turkington (born 21 March 1982) is a Northern Irish auto racing driver, who is currently competing in the British Touring Car Championship for Team BMR. His most notable successes to date include becoming 2009 British Touring Car Champion driving for Team RAC and 2014 British Touring Car Champion driving for eBay Motors. He has also competed in the World Touring Car Championship and the inaugural Scandinavian Touring Car Championship. In 2013 he returned to the British Touring Car Championship with his former team, West Surrey Racing.

Career

Early career

Turkington, who was born in Portadown, began his racing career in the Ulster Karting series in 1993.[1] He competed in autograss in 1996 and 1997,[1] before moving on to the Northern Irish Metro Championship in 1998, where he won his first title.[1] He moved on to the Ford Credit Fiesta Zetec Championship on mainland Britain in 1999, winning the title in 2001.[1]

British Touring Car Championship

Team Atomic Kitten (2002)

Turkington moved to the BTCC in 2002. His first BTCC drive was in a year-old MG ZS, sponsored by the pop group Atomic Kitten, partnering fellow Fiesta graduate Gareth Howell. He finished 14th in the Drivers' Championship.

West Surrey Racing (2003–04)

Turkington driving the Team RAC-run MG at Brands Hatch in 2006.

For 2003, Turkington moved to the manufacturer-backed West Surrey Racing, winning his first race at Brands Hatch and finishing 8th in the Drivers' Championship. Despite the loss of official MG backing in 2004, he finished 6th in the 2004 Drivers' Championship, taking the second win of his BTCC career at Mondello Park.

Vauxhall (2005)

For 2005, Turkington replaced champion James Thompson at Vauxhall. He finished 6th in the Drivers' Championship again, a performance which was not enough for him to retain the seat for the following season.

West Surrey Racing (2006–2009; 2013–2014)

Turkington driving the Team RAC-run BMW at Croft in 2008, where he won two of the three races.

For 2006, Turkington rejoined WSR to drive an RAC-backed MG ZS alongside Rob Collard. A strong first half of the season made him the closest challenger to Matt Neal for the title,[2] although Jason Plato pipped him to 2nd in the Drivers' Championship in the final race of the year. Late in the season, the team switched to bio-ethanol fuel,[3] almost becoming the first team to win a race with it. He finished 3rd in the 2006 Drivers' Championship, with two wins and 14 podium finishes.

For 2007, the BTC-spec MG was no longer eligible to win the championship outright, so the team switched to the BMW 320si. Turkington's first win of the season (and BMW's first in the BTCC for over a decade) came in the fourth weekend of the championship at Croft.[4] Turkington went on to win his first Independent Drivers' title, finishing 5th in the overall Drivers' Championship, with three wins.

Turkington competed with WSR in the Brands Hatch and Macau rounds of the World Touring Car Championship in 2007. At Brands Hatch, he finished 3rd in the first race on and then finished 4th in the second race, but as his car was not homologated because of its sequential gearbox, Turkington did not collect championship points. In Macau, he finished 13th and 8th in the two races.

In 2008, he was joined at WSR by Formula Three driver Stephen Jelley. Turkington won four races on his way to 5th in the Drivers' Championship, while also retaining his Independent Drivers' crown. He also finished every race that season in the top 10.

In 2009, Turkington took the championship lead at the mid-season point, and went on to win the BTCC title in a thrilling finale, after winning six races. Turkington finished consistently, with an unbroken run of eighteen point-scoring finishes, from Croft onwards, failing to finish in just one race. However WSR lost the title sponsor RAC and Turkington could not attempt to retain his title in 2010.

In 2013, Turkington returned to the BTCC with WSR (now competing as eBay Motors). He drove one of their three new BMW 125is.[5] He finished 4th in the 2013 Drivers' Championship after taking five race wins.

Turkington stayed with the team for the 2014 season,[6] taking eight race wins and eventually winning his second BTCC Drivers' title.

Team BMR (2015–present)

After winning the championship with eBay Motors in 2014, Turkington switched to Team BMR for the 2015 season, driving alongside Jason Plato, Aron Smith and Warren Scott.[7] In 2016, Team BMR announced a change of car to the Subaru Levorg, and after months of testing entered it into the 2016 season.[8] The Subaru idea sprung up when Jason Plato and one of his engineers were talking back in 2012 about a works Subaru team. After a slow start at Brands Hatch and Donington Park where the team spent their time trying to develop the Subaru, Turkington scored a best finish of 10th at Donington Park. The team withdrew all four Subarus from the Thruxton round after an issue with the fuel line potentially causing fires.

The Levorg gained its first win in the BTCC at Oulton Park in Round 10. Turkington took a further 4 wins before the season ended and finished 4th in the drivers championship standings.

World Touring Car Championship

Turkington driving for Team Aviva-COFCO at the 2010 FIA WTCC Race of Japan.

In 2010, Turkington competed in three rounds of the 2010 World Touring Car Championship series (WTCC) driving a BMW for WSR at Algarve, Brands Hatch and Brno.[9] At Brands Hatch, he was the top BMW on the grid in 4th, eventually finishing 3rd in race one and 5th in race two, comfortably winning the Independents' class in both races. With additional points awarded to an Independent driver finishing in the top ten positions overall, Turkington moved into second place in the Independents' championship, despite having only competed in two meetings at that point. On 1 August 2010, the WTCC altered their regulations which effectively stopped Turkington being classed as an Independent.[10]

In October 2010, it was announced that Turkington and WSR would compete in the final two rounds of the WTCC in Japan and Macau. He took his first WTCC win in Japan after Augusto Farfus and Andy Priaulx were disqualified.

In July 2011, Turkington competed in three more WTCC rounds for Wiechers-Sport.

On 26 October 2012, Turkington announced that he would again be racing in the WTCC at China for the WSR-run Team Aviva-Cofco. Turkington drove the spare RML Group Chevrolet Cruze 1.6t.[11] He qualified 5th on the grid, but first-lap incidents in both races meant he had to recover from near the back of the field twice. His efforts were rewarded with two points finishes.

Scandinavian Touring Car Championship

For 2011, Turkington drove a BMW 320si in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship for Flash Engineering, as teammate of Jan Nilsson. Turkington scored five podium finishes in 18 races but no wins, and finished 5th in the Drivers' Championship.

Other Work

Turkington was elected to the MSA's Race Elite Scheme in April 2007, along with five other drivers in various British series. He has also done TV work, presenting a BBC Northern Ireland report on environmental damage in 2002.[12]

Racing record

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(key) Races in bold indicate pole position (1 point awarded – 2002–2003 all races, 2004–present just in first race) Races in italics indicate fastest lap (1 point awarded all races) * signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap (1 point awarded – 2002 just in feature races, 2003–present all races)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Pts
2002 Team Atomic Kitten MG ZS T BRH
1		 BRH
2		 OUL
1
19		 OUL
2
Ret		 THR
1
Ret		 THR
2
Ret		 SIL
1
Ret		 SIL
2
12		 MON
1
DNS		 MON
2
DNS		 CRO
1
3		 CRO
2
5		 SNE
1
9		 SNE
2
4		 KNO
1
8		 KNO
2
Ret		 BRH
1
Ret		 BRH
2
16		 DON
1
11		 DON
2
Ret		 14th 29
2003 MG Sport & Racing MG ZS T MON
1
DNS		 MON
2
Ret		 BRH
1
6		 BRH
2
Ret		 THR
1
8		 THR
2
Ret		 SIL
1
3		 SIL
2
8		 ROC
1
Ret		 ROC
2
Ret		 CRO
1
4		 CRO
2
7		 SNE
1
Ret		 SNE
2
4		 BRH
1
3*		 BRH
2
1*		 DON
1
19		 DON
2
2		 OUL
1
6		 OUL
2
3		 8th 97
2004 West Surrey Racing MG ZS THR
1
14		 THR
2
10		 THR
3
6		 BRH
1
6		 BRH
2
5		 BRH
3
5		 SIL
1
11		 SIL
2
5		 SIL
3
12		 OUL
1
4		 OUL
2
6		 OUL
3
5		 MON
1
3		 MON
2
6		 MON
3
1*		 CRO
1
6		 CRO
2
7		 CRO
3
3		 KNO
1
4		 KNO
2
Ret		 KNO
3
3		 BRH
1
10		 BRH
2
2*		 BRH
3
11*		 SNE
1
4		 SNE
2
5		 SNE
3
7		 DON
1
3		 DON
2
7		 DON
3
6		 6th 173
2005 VX Racing Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch DON
1
5		 DON
2
Ret		 DON
3
8		 THR
1
4		 THR
2
7		 THR
3
2		 BRH
1
2		 BRH
2
5		 BRH
3
5		 OUL
1
10		 OUL
2
6		 OUL
3
Ret		 CRO
1
1*		 CRO
2
2		 CRO
3
7		 MON
1
4		 MON
2
1*		 MON
3
5		 SNE
1
7		 SNE
2
7		 SNE
3
Ret		 KNO
1
3		 KNO
2
4		 KNO
3
7		 SIL
1
7		 SIL
2
Ret		 SIL
3
9		 BRH
1
7		 BRH
2
Ret		 BRH
3
6		 6th 174
2006 Team RAC MG ZS BRH
1
4		 BRH
2
2		 BRH
3
2		 MON
1
4		 MON
2
3		 MON
3
2		 OUL
1
7		 OUL
2
17		 OUL
3
5		 THR
1
8		 THR
2
6		 THR
3
1*		 CRO
1
4		 CRO
2
3		 CRO
3
2		 DON
1
2*		 DON
2
8		 DON
3
1*		 SNE
1
Ret		 SNE
2
3		 SNE
3
4		 KNO
1
7		 KNO
2
9		 KNO
3
Ret*		 BRH
1
3		 BRH
2
3		 BRH
3
4		 SIL
1
2		 SIL
2
DSQ		 SIL
3
2		 3rd 240
2007 Team RAC BMW 320si BRH
1
2		 BRH
2
2		 BRH
3
Ret		 ROC
1
7		 ROC
2
Ret		 ROC
3
Ret		 THR
1
4		 THR
2
5*		 THR
3
17		 CRO
1
1*		 CRO
2
Ret*		 CRO
3
9		 OUL
1
3*		 OUL
2
1*		 OUL
3
Ret		 DON
1
7		 DON
2
9		 DON
3
6*		 SNE
1
DSQ		 SNE
2
9		 SNE
3
6		 BRH
1
4*		 BRH
2
9		 BRH
3
1*		 KNO
1
2		 KNO
2
2		 KNO
3
6		 THR
1
6		 THR
2
4		 THR
3
11		 5th 184
2008 Team RAC BMW 320si BRH
1
20		 BRH
2
8		 BRH
3
1*		 ROC
1
16		 ROC
2
6		 ROC
3
7*		 DON
1
9*		 DON
2
13		 DON
3
12		 THR
1
2		 THR
2
2*		 THR
3
6		 CRO
1
1*		 CRO
2
1*		 CRO
3
8		 SNE
1
5		 SNE
2
2		 SNE
3
6		 OUL
1
4		 OUL
2
1*		 OUL
3
7		 KNO
1
5		 KNO
2
7		 KNO
3
15		 SIL
1
4		 SIL
2
2		 SIL
3
4		 BRH
1
4		 BRH
2
3		 BRH
3
5		 4th 212
2009 Team RAC BMW 320si BRH
1
3*		 BRH
2
2*		 BRH
3
4		 THR
1
4		 THR
2
1*		 THR
3
9		 DON
1
Ret		 DON
2
5		 DON
3
2		 OUL
1
1*		 OUL
2
1*		 OUL
3
11		 CRO
1
1*		 CRO
2
1*		 CRO
3
6		 SNE
1
5		 SNE
2
2		 SNE
3
1		 KNO
1
4		 KNO
2
3		 KNO
3
5		 SIL
1
4		 SIL
2
4		 SIL
3
3		 ROC
1
10		 ROC
2
4		 ROC
3
4		 BRH
1
8		 BRH
2
3		 BRH
3
2*		 1st 275
2013 eBay Motors BMW 125i M Sport BRH
1
8		 BRH
2
8		 BRH
3
9		 DON
1
8		 DON
2
9		 DON
3
1*		 THR
1
6		 THR
2
11		 THR
3
10		 OUL
1
5		 OUL
2
3		 OUL
3
2		 CRO
1
1*		 CRO
2
1*		 CRO
3
2		 SNE
1
4		 SNE
2
6*		 SNE
3
6*		 KNO
1
1*		 KNO
2
1*		 KNO
3
DSQ		 ROC
1
6		 ROC
2
3		 ROC
3
2		 SIL
1
4		 SIL
2
5		 SIL
3
Ret*		 BRH
1
Ret		 BRH
2
12		 BRH
3
4		 5th 347
2014 eBay Motors BMW 125i M Sport BRH
1
8		 BRH
2
3		 BRH
3
1*		 DON
1
5		 DON
2
6		 DON
3
2*		 THR
1
8		 THR
2
6		 THR
3
1*		 OUL
1
1*		 OUL
2
1*		 OUL
3
3		 CRO
1
1*		 CRO
2
1*		 CRO
3
Ret		 SNE
1
2		 SNE
2
2*		 SNE
3
3		 KNO
1
Ret		 KNO
2
4		 KNO
3
3		 ROC
1
1*		 ROC
2
1*		 ROC
3
4		 SIL
1
2*		 SIL
2
2*		 SIL
3
3		 BRH
1
3		 BRH
2
Ret		 BRH
3
20		 1st 433
2015 Team BMR RCIB Insurance Volkswagen CC BRH
1
5		 BRH
2
3		 BRH
3
12		 DON
1
3		 DON
2
1*		 DON
3
11		 THR
1
7		 THR
2
5		 THR
3
4		 OUL
1
25		 OUL
2
8		 OUL
3
6		 CRO
1
7		 CRO
2
3		 CRO
3
4		 SNE
1
1*		 SNE
2
1*		 SNE
3
7		 KNO
1
10		 KNO
2
Ret		 KNO
3
15		 ROC
1
7		 ROC
2
8		 ROC
3
3		 SIL
1
5		 SIL
2
8		 SIL
3
1*		 BRH
1
4		 BRH
2
Ret		 BRH
3
12		 4th 310
2016 Silverline Subaru BMR Racing Subaru Levorg GT BRH
1
Ret		 BRH
2
20		 BRH
3
12		 DON
1
10		 DON
2
Ret		 DON
3
18		 THR
1
WD		 THR
2
WD		 THR
3
WD		 OUL
1
1*		 OUL
2
2		 OUL
3
7		 CRO
1
1*		 CRO
2
3*		 CRO
3
7		 SNE
1
1*		 SNE
2
2		 SNE
3
6		 KNO
1
3		 KNO
2
4		 KNO
3
24		 ROC
1
5		 ROC
2
15		 ROC
3
3		 SIL
1
8		 SIL
2
4		 SIL
3
4		 BRH
1
1*		 BRH
2
1*		 BRH
3
12		 4th 289

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 DC Pts
2007 Team RAC/AVIVA BMW 320si BRA
1		 BRA
2		 NED
1		 NED
2		 ESP
1		 ESP
2		 FRA
1		 FRA
2		 CZE
1		 CZE
2		 POR
1		 POR
2		 SWE
1		 SWE
2		 GER
1		 GER
2		 GBR
1
3		 GBR
2
4		 ITA
1		 ITA
2		 MAC
1
14		 MAC
2
8		 NC† 0†
2010 eBay Motors BMW 320si BRA
1		 BRA
2		 MAR
1		 MAR
2		 ITA
1		 ITA
2		 BEL
1		 BEL
2		 POR
1
12		 POR
2
10		 GBR
1
3		 GBR
2
2		 CZE
1
6		 CZE
2
2		 GER
1		 GER
2		 ESP
1		 ESP
2		 10th 97
Team Aviva-COFCO JPN
1
4		 JPN
2
1		 MAC
1
Ret		 MAC
2
13
2011 Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TC BRA
1		 BRA
2		 BEL
1		 BEL
2		 ITA
1		 ITA
2		 HUN
1		 HUN
2		 CZE
1		 CZE
2		 POR
1		 POR
2		 GBR
1
10		 GBR
2
10		 GER
1		 GER
2		 ESP
1		 ESP
2		 JPN
1
6		 JPN
2
7		 CHN
1
2		 CHN
2
4		 MAC
1		 MAC
2		 13th 46
2012 Team Aviva-Cofco Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T ITA
1		 ITA
2		 ESP
1		 ESP
2		 MAR
1		 MAR
2		 SVK
1		 SVK
2		 HUN
1		 HUN
2		 AUT
1		 AUT
2		 POR
1		 POR
2		 BRA
1		 BRA
2		 USA
1		 USA
2		 JPN
1		 JPN
2		 CHN
1
6		 CHN
2
7		 MAC
1		 MAC
2		 18th 15

† Not eligible for points.

Complete Scandinavian Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Pts
2011 Flash Engineering BMW 320si JYL
1
7		 JYL
2
2		 KNU
1
6		 KNU
2
3		 MAN
1
Ret		 MAN
2
10		 GÖT
1
11		 GÖT
2
10		 FAL
1
4		 FAL
2
3		 KAR
1
16		 KAR
2
9		 JYL
1
2		 JYL
2
Ret		 KNU
1
6		 KNU
2
2		 MAN
1
12		 MAN
2
6		 5th 130

Complete International Superstars Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Points
2013 Scuderia Giudici BMW M3 (E92) MNZ
R1
 MNZ
R2
 BRN
R1
 BRN
R2
 SVK
R1
 SVK
R2
 ZOL
R1
 ZOL
R2
 ALG
R1
 ALG
R2
 DON
R1
10		 DON
R2
6		 IMO
R1
 IMO
R2
 VAL
R1
 VAL
R2
 23rd 9

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 http://www.touringcartimes.com/news.php?id=4059
  2. ↑ http://www.trymysport.co.uk/sports_news/touring_car_racing_news/2006/aug06/2006%20BTCC%20Newsletter%2012.pdf
  3. ↑ http://www.eemsonline.co.uk/press_releases/06-09-06_1
  4. ↑ http://www.crash.net/feature_view~cid~10~id~11434.htm
  5. ↑ "Turkington returns to BTCC grid". btcc.net. TOCA. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  6. ↑ "TURKINGTON HEADS EBAY MOTORS TRIO". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  7. ↑ "Jason Plato and Colin Turkington join Team BMR". British Touring Car Championship. 17 February 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  8. ↑ "BTCC | Subaru enters BTCC with Team BMR". Retrieved 2016-06-27.
  9. ↑ O'Leary, Jamie (3 June 2010). "Turkington seals three-round deal". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
  10. ↑ "WTCC – Fia World Touring Car Championship". Fiawtcc.com. 1 August 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  11. ↑ "Colin Turkington returns to World Touring Cars with WSR Chevrolet". Autosport. 26 October 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  12. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/4_11/pfocus/pdf/pfocus_sum04_pr05.pdf

Media related to Colin Turkington at Wikimedia Commons

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Fabrizio Giovanardi		 British Touring Car Championship
Champion
2009 		Succeeded by
Jason Plato
Preceded by
Andrew Jordan		 British Touring Car Championship
Champion
2014 		Succeeded by
Gordon Shedden
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Oliver Turvey		 Autosport Awards
National Driver of the Year
2009 		Succeeded by
Jason Plato
Preceded by
Andrew Jordan		 Autosport Awards
National Driver of the Year
2014 		Succeeded by
Gordon Shedden
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