Colin Turkington will return to the West Surrey Racing squad which took him to a brace of Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship titles after agreeing a deal for the 2017 season.
WSR claimed the Drivers’ Championship with the Northern Irishman in both 2009 and 2014, Turkington now returning to the BMW outfit to confirm a 10th season working with Dick Bennetts.
Turkington had been threatened by commercial issues in both 2010 and 2015, most recently switching to Team BMR and claiming a total of nine wins over two campaigns with Volkswagen and Subaru respectively.
The 34-year-old will join fellow BTCC champion Andrew Jordan at WSR for the 2017 season driving a BMW 125i M-Sport, with the third seat expected to be filled in the coming weeks.
“It feels fantastic to re-join WSR for the 2017 season and I couldn’t be more excited about my return,” said Turkington. “From my debut in touring cars in 2002 right through to winning my second BTCC title, it’s been like a second home for me and my greatest achievements in motor racing have all come with them.
“Combining our accumulated rear-wheel-drive expertise and strong work ethic is a recipe for success and I’m confident this gives me the perfect opportunity to fight for honours once again.
“I’m particularly looking forward to driving the BMW 125i M Sport and see the developments that have come about since 2014.”
WSR boss Bennetts said that bringing back title winner Turkington was a no-brainer over the winter season, with titles firmly on the team’s radar once again in 2017.
“It’s great have Colin back for 2017,” said Bennetts. “His performances with various WSR BMWs have been extremely strong and he’s been a key part of our most successful seasons in the BTCC in 2009 and 2014.
“There’s definitely a sense of unfinished business as, despite our intentions, commercial reasons meant we weren’t able to stay together to defend our championships. We now head into 2017 with a very strong driver line-up, and we’re aiming for more titles.”
Photo: West Surrey Racing
