Colin Turkington

Colin Henry Turkington (born 21 March 1982) is a British racing driver from Northern Ireland who currently competes in the British GT Championship for WSR FlexiFly . He has previously competed in the BTCC from his debut in 2002 to 2009, and from 2013 to 2024. He is a 4 time champion in the BTCC, winning the title in 2009, 2014, 2018 and 2019.

Personal life Away from the track, Turkington is married to Louise Turkington and has two brothers, Gary and James.

Both his sons Lewis and Harry both race in lower series, with Lewis racing in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship and Harry racing in the British Autograss Series. He also has two pets, a can called Jackie and a dog called Basil.

Turkington also owns a brand simply called Turkington Construction.

Career

Early career Turkington, who was born in Portadown, began his racing career in the Ulster Karting series in 1993. He competed in autograss in 1996 and 1997, although Jason Plato pipped him to second in the Drivers' Championship in the final race of the year. Late in the season, the team switched to bio-ethanol fuel, almost becoming the first team to win a race with it. He finished third 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. Turkington went on to win his first Independent Drivers' title, finishing fifth 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 third in the first race on and then finished fourth 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 eighth 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 fifth in the Drivers' Championship, while also retaining his Independent Drivers' crown. He also finished every race that season in the top-ten.

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. He finished fifth in the 2013 Drivers' Championship after taking five race wins.

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

Team BMR (2015–2016) 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. In 2016, Team BMR announced a change of car to the Subaru Levorg, and after months of testing entered it into the 2016 season. 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 tenth 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 four wins before the season ended and finished fourth in the drivers championship standings.

West Surrey Racing (2017–2024)

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 and Rob Collard in a trio of BMW 125i M Sports - the car was a development from when Turkington won the 2014 championship.

Turkington collided with Matt Neal off the startline at the season opener at Brands Hatch, but salvaged a ninth-place finish in Race 2 from the back of the grid after a last-gasp move on Michael Epps. He finished second in Race 3 behind teammate Andrew Jordan. During the year, the Ulsterman took four race wins, including the 100th BTCC win for BMW at Thruxton. He went into the final round battling for the championship with his replacement at Team BMR, Ashley Sutton. Despite the title fight going down to the final race, his hopes ended when he collided with Mat Jackson early in the race, meaning he finished the year as runner-up.

In 2018, Turkington would become champion again, beating Tom Ingram to take his third title, despite winning only a single race all season.

The 2019 season saw Turkington claim five race victories, but looked set to be beaten to the title by Halford Yuasa Racing driver Dan Cammish. However, with two laps to go in the final race of the season at Brands Hatch, Cammish suffered a brake failure, resulting in a collsion with the outside wall. As a result, Turkington won his record equalling fourth BTCC title, a record shared at the time with Andy Rouse, and subsequently Ashley Sutton. Turkington during his 500th BTCC race at Snetterton in 2022.

In early 2025, Turkington confirmed his absence from the grid for the following season.

World Touring Car Championship

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. At Brands Hatch, he was the top BMW on the grid in fourth, eventually finishing third in race one and fifth 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.

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. He qualified fifth 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 fifth in the Drivers' Championship.

British GT Championship On 20 February 2026, it was announced that Turkington would be competing full time in the GT4 Pro-Am category of the 2026 British GT Championship, sharing a BMW M4 GT4 EVO with 3 time FIA European Historic Rally champion Ernie Graham

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.

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 Points 2002 Team Atomic Kitten MG ZS BRH1 BRH2 OUL1 OUL2 THR1 THR2 SIL1 SIL2 MON1 MON2 CRO1 CRO2 SNE1 SNE2 KNO1 KNO2 BRH1 BRH2 DON1 DON2 14th 29 2003 MG Sport & Racing MG ZS MON1 MON2 BRH1 BRH2 THR1 THR2 SIL1 SIL2 ROC1 ROC2 CRO1 CRO2 SNE1 SNE2 BRH1 BRH2 DON1 DON2 OUL1 OUL2 8th 97 2004 West Surrey Racing MG ZS THR1 THR2 THR3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 MON1 MON2 MON3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 DON1 DON2 DON3 6th 173 2005 VX Racing Vauxhall AstraSport Hatch DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 MON1 MON2 MON3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 6th 174 2006 Team RAC MG ZS BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 MON1 MON2 MON3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 THR1 THR2 THR3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 DON1 DON2 DON3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 3rd 240 2007 Team RAC BMW 320si BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 THR1 THR25* THR3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 DON1 DON2 DON36* SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 THR1 THR2 THR3 5th 184 2008 Team RAC BMW 320si BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 DON19* DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 4th 212 2009 Team RAC BMW 320si BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 THR1 THR2 THR3 DON1 DON2 DON3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 1st 275 2013 eBay Motors BMW 125i M Sport BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE26* SNE36* KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 5th 347 2014 eBay Motors BMW 125i M Sport BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 1st 433 2015 Team BMRRCIB Insurance Volkswagen CC BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 4th 310 2016 Silverline SubaruBMR Racing Subaru Levorg GT BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 4th 289 2017 Team BMW BMW 125i M Sport BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 2nd 351 2018 Team BMW BMW 125i M Sport BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 1st 304 2019 Team BMW BMW 330i M Sport BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 THR1 THR2 THR3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 1st 320 2020 Team BMW BMW 330i M Sport DON1 DON2 DON3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 THR1 THR2 THR3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 2nd 336 2021 Team BMW BMW 330i M Sport THR1 THR2 THR3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 THR1 THR2 THR3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 DON1 DON2 DON3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 2nd 306 2022 Team BMW BMW 330e M Sport DON1 DON2 DON3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 THR1 THR2 THR3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 4th 348 2023 Team BMW BMW 330e M Sport DON1 DON2 DON3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 DON1 DON2 DON3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 4th 312 2024 Team BMW BMW 330e M Sport DON1 DON2 DON3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 DON1 DON2 DON3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 4th 346 2025 Laser Tools Racingwith MB Motorsport BMW 330e M Sport DON1 DON2 DON3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 DON1 DON2 DON3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 NC 0

† Competed in Free Practice session only.

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 BRA1 BRA2 NED1 NED2 ESP1 ESP2 FRA1 FRA2 CZE1 CZE2 POR1 POR2 SWE1 SWE2 GER1 GER2 GBR1 GBR2 ITA1 ITA2 MAC1 MAC2 NC† 0† 2010 eBay Motors BMW 320si BRA1 BRA2 MAR1 MAR2 ITA1 ITA2 BEL1 BEL2 POR1 POR2 GBR1 GBR2 CZE1 CZE2 GER1 GER2 ESP1 ESP2 10th 97 Team Aviva-COFCO JPN1 JPN2 MAC1 MAC2 2011 Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TC BRA1 BRA2 BEL1 BEL2 ITA1 ITA2 HUN1 HUN2 CZE1 CZE2 POR1 POR2 GBR1 GBR2 GER1 GER2 ESP1 ESP2 JPN1 JPN2 CHN1 CHN2 MAC1 MAC2 13th 46 2012 Team Aviva-Cofco Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T ITA1 ITA2 ESP1 ESP2 MAR1 MAR2 SVK1 SVK2 HUN1 HUN2 AUT1 AUT2 POR1 POR2 BRA1 BRA2 USA1 USA2 JPN1 JPN2 CHN1 CHN2 MAC1 MAC2 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 JYL1 JYL2 KNU1 KNU2 MAN1 MAN2 GÖT1 GÖT2 FAL1 FAL2 KAR1 KAR2 JYL1 JYL2 KNU1 KNU2 MAN1 MAN2 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) MNZ1 MNZ2 BRN1 BRN2 SVK1 SVK2 ZOL1 ZOL2 ALG1 ALG2 DON1 DON2 IMO1 IMO2 VAL1 VAL2 23rd 9

24 Hours of Silverstone results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2011 Rollcentre Racing Matt Nicoll-Jones Mike Simpson Martin Short Ginetta G55 30 1 80 DNF DNF

Complete British GT Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points 2026 WSR FlexiFly BMW M4 GT4 Evo (G82) GT4 SIL1 OUL1 OUL2 SPA1 SNE1 SNE2 DON1 BRH1 11th* 26.5* Season still in progress.