| Colin Turkington | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Turkington at theKnockhill round of the2017 British Touring Car Championship. | |
| Nationality |  British |
| Born | (1982-03-21)21 March 1982 (age 43) Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland |
| Related to | Gary Turkington (brother) James Turkington (brother) |
| British Touring Car Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2002 |
| Car number | 20 |
| Former teams | VX Racing Silverline Subaru BMR Racing |
| Starts | 569 |
| Wins | 72 |
| Poles | 31 |
| Fastest laps | 75 |
| Best finish | 1st in2009,2014,2018,2019 |
| Previous series | |
| 2011 2013 2007,2010–12 2011 2000–01 | Britcar 24hr Superstars Series WTCC STCC Ford Fiesta Cup |
| Championship titles | |
| 2009,2014,2018,2019 2001 1998 | BTCC Ford Fiesta Cup Northern Irish Metro Championship |
| Awards | |
| 2020-21,24 2019, 2014, 2009 | Goodyear Wingfoot Award Autosport National Driver of the Year |
Colin Henry Turkington (born 21 March 1982) is a Britishracing driver fromNorthern Ireland who competed in theBritish Touring Car Championship most recently forTeam BMW. He is a4 time BTCC champion, winning the title in2009,2014,2018 and2019, having made his debut in the series in2002.
Turkington, who was born inPortadown, began his racing career in the UlsterKarting series in 1993.[1] He competed inautograss 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 theFord Credit Fiesta Zetec Championship in Britain in 1999, winning the title in 2001.[1]
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Turkington moved to the BTCC in 2002. His first BTCC drive was in a year-oldMG ZS, sponsored by the pop groupAtomic Kitten, partnering fellow Fiesta graduateGareth Howell. He finished 14th in the Drivers' Championship.
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 atMondello Park.
For 2005, Turkington replaced championJames 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.
For 2006, Turkington rejoined WSR to drive anRAC-backedMG ZS alongsideRob Collard. A strong first half of the season made him the closest challenger toMatt Neal for the title,[2] althoughJason 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, theBTC-spec MG was no longer eligible to win the championship outright, so the team switched to theBMW320si. 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 atCroft.[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 theBrands Hatch andMacau rounds of theWorld 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 byFormula Three driverStephen 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, fromCroft 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.
In2013, Turkington returned to the BTCC with WSR (now competing as eBay Motors). He drove one of their three newBMW 125is.[5] He finished 5th in the 2013 Drivers' Championship after taking five race wins.
Turkington stayed with the team for the2014 season,[6] taking eight race wins and eventually winning his second BTCC Drivers' title.
After winning the championship with eBay Motors in 2014, Turkington switched toTeam BMR for the2015 season, driving alongsideJason Plato,Aron Smith andWarren Scott.[7] In 2016,Team BMR announced a change of car to theSubaru Levorg, and after months of testing entered it into the 2016 season.[8] TheSubaru idea sprung up whenJason Plato and one of his engineers were talking back in 2012 about a worksSubaru 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.
TheLevorg gained its first win in theBTCC atOulton Park in Round 10. Turkington took a further 4 wins before the season ended and finished 4th in the drivers championship standings.
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For 2017, Turkington once again re-joined the outfit headed by Dick Bennetts; the source of his previous two championship victories. He joined Andrew Jordan andRob Collard in a trio of BMW 125i M Sports - the car was a development from when Turkington won the 2014 championship.[9]
Turkington collided withMatt Neal off the startline at the season opener atBrands Hatch, but salvaged a 9th-place finish in Race 2 from the back of the grid after a last-gasp move onMichael Epps.[10][11] He finished second in Race 3 behind teammate Andrew Jordan.[12] During the year, the Ulsterman took 4 race wins, including the 100th BTCC win forBMW at Thruxton. He went into the final round battling for the championship withAshley Sutton, his replacement atTeam BMR. Despite the title fight going down to the final race, his hopes ended when he collided withMat Jackson early in the race, meaning he finished the year as runner-up.
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In early 2025, Turkington confirmed his absence from the grid for the following season.[13]
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In 2010, Turkington competed in three rounds of the2010 World Touring Car Championship series (WTCC) driving a BMW for WSR atAlgarve,Brands Hatch andBrno.[14] 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.[15]
In October 2010, it was announced that Turkington and WSR would compete in the final two rounds of the WTCC inJapan andMacau. He took his first WTCC win in Japan afterAugusto Farfus andAndy Priaulx were disqualified.
In July 2011, Turkington competed in three more WTCC rounds forWiechers-Sport.
On 26 October 2012, Turkington announced that he would again be racing in the WTCC atChina for theWSR-run Team Aviva-Cofco. Turkington drove the spareRML GroupChevrolet Cruze 1.6t.[16] 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.
For2011, Turkington drove a BMW 320si in theScandinavian Touring Car Championship forFlash Engineering, as teammate ofJan Nilsson. Turkington scored five podium finishes in 18 races but no wins, and finished 5th in the Drivers' Championship.
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 aBBC Northern Ireland report on environmental damage in 2002.[17]
(key) Races inbold indicate pole position (1 point awarded – 2002–2003 all races, 2004–present just in first race) Races initalics 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)
† Competed in Free Practice session only.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
† Not eligible for points.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics 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 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics 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 1 | MNZ 2 | BRN 1 | BRN 2 | SVK 1 | SVK 2 | ZOL 1 | ZOL 2 | ALG 1 | ALG 2 | DON 1 10 | DON 2 6 | IMO 1 | IMO 2 | VAL 1 | VAL 2 | 23rd | 9 |
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Car No. | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Rollcentre Racing | Matt Nicoll-Jones Mike Simpson Martin Short | Ginetta G55 | 30 | 1 | 80 | DNF | DNF |
Media related toColin Turkington at Wikimedia Commons
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | British Touring Car Championship Champion 2009 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | British Touring Car Championship Champion 2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | British Touring Car Championship Champion 2018-2019 | Succeeded by |
| Awards and achievements | ||
| Preceded by | Autosport Awards National Driver of the Year 2009 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Autosport Awards National Driver of the Year 2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Autosport Awards National Driver of the Year 2019 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Inaugural | Goodyear Wingfoot Award Winner 2020-2021 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Goodyear Wingfoot Award Winner 2024 | Succeeded by |