Colin Turkington will return to the hot-seat of the Wiechers-Sport BMW for the next two rounds of the World Touring Car Championship at Suzuka and Shanghai.
The 2009 British Touring Car Champion made a one-off appearance for the German squad on home soil at Donington Park earlier in the season. After qualifying fifth he was involved in incidents in both races but finished tenth in both.
He will replace Stefano D'Aste again for the races at Suzuka in Japan and Tianma in China, thanks to a deal with insurance firm Aviva-Cofco. The company previously backed Turkington in the Japan and Macau rounds last year when he drove for West Surrey Racing and inherited a victory at Okayama when the factory BMW of Augusto Farfus was excluded.
“I'm delighted to be racing for Aviva-Cofco Wiechers-Sport,” said Turkington. “I've had successful races for Aviva in Macau and Okayama and I can't wait to get back in the car and drive for them again, especially because when I raced for Wiechers-Sport earlier this season at Donington we were the fastest BMW and fastest in the Yokohama Trophy.”
Wiechers-Sport Team Manager Dominik Greiner said: “It's great to be working with both Colin and WSR and we are pleased to be representing such a leading global brand in Aviva-Cofco. Colin is a fantastic driver and one of his strengths is to be able to get accustomed to new circuits very quickly. As Suzuka and Shanghai are new track for all the drivers, we are confident that he can put this skill to good use to secure good results.”
Simon Machell, Chief Executive of Aviva Asia Pacific, commented: “The World Touring Car Championship is a prestigious global motorsports event and the races in Japan and Shanghai China serve as a great platform for us to enhance the awareness of the Aviva brand in Asia. We will be inviting over 300 customers and partners to the event in Shanghai. This allows us to connect with them via our shared passion for teamwork, innovation and performance. We look forward to treating them to a unique experience.”