btcc:action >> Drivers >> Colin Turkington
Colin Turkington |
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Nationality: Irish Date of birth: 21 March 1982 Place of birth: Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland Status: Single Website: www.colinturkington.com BTCC Debut: Oulton Park, 21 April 2002, MG ZS BTCC Races: 155* BTCC Wins: 10* BTCC Points: 916* * after Round 3 2008 |
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Colin Turkington, born on March 21 1982 in Newry, Northern Ireland, is currently racing in the BTCC for Team RAC in BMW 320si, a team he has raced with through most of his BTCC career (with the exception of 2005). Since making his BTCC debut in 2002, Turkington has gone on to prove himself to be capable of challenging consistently for race wins, although he has yet to lift the BTCC title. Like many drivers, Turkington started out in karts before moving up to the Ford Credit Fiesta Championship for 1999. After three years in the series, and clinching the championship in 2001, he earned himself a debut drive in the BTCC in 2002 for the new independent outfit, Team Atomic Kitten, backed by the pop group. 4 wins in the independent's class took him to 6th in class and 14th overall, and as he improved as the season went on he caught the eye of the works-backed outfit MG Sport and Racing, which he signed to race for in 2003. | ||||
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Alongside veteran Anthony Reid for the 2003 season, Turkington took his first win towards the end of the season at Brands Hatch. A consistent year for Turkington which saw him finish just behind both of his team mates Reid and Warren hughes in the final standings. For 2004 Turkington stayed with WSR in the MG, although for this season the MG backing had disappeared and he was back to competing in the Independent's championship. Despite this the team was able to continue to develop the MG ZS chassis, and Turkington grabbed his only win of the season in front of his home crowd at Mondello Park. Some consistent finished enabled the Irishman to finish 6th overall in the championship, once again behind team mate Anthony Reid. Turkington did enough during this season to get noticed by VX Racing, and a works drive beckoned for 2005. | ||||
| For all the promise that a season with the champions of the previous 4 years may have suggested, 2005 was not a great deal better than 2004 for Turkington. The new Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch lacked race-long consistency, and this made the car difficult to set up. As a result, Colin only scored two wins and once again finished sixth in the championship, although winning again on home soil at Mondello Park was a major highlight of the year. | |||
| 2006 saw Turkington go back to where he began, racing an MG ZS for Team RAC, with the cars prepared once again by the experienced West Surrey Racing. By far his best season to date, consistent results and 2 wins overall took Turkington to third in the championship behind only Matt Neal and Jason Plato, and top honours in the Independent's championship. Hoping to build on this success Team RAC bought brand new BMW 320si's for the 2007 season and once again signed Turkington to race. | ||||
| With victory in Round 4 of the 2007 season, Turkington took BMW's first win in the BTCC for over 10 years and continued to show the sort of form that had seen him finish third the previous year. However more retirements in an increasingly competitive season took their toll on the Irishman and he was unable to finish as high in the championship despite racing as hard and fast as ever. Two outings in the World Touring Car Championship supplemented Turkington's BTCC campaign, with him finishing on the podium at Brands Hatch and making the points in Macau. | ||||
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Career Rundown
| 2008: | British Touring Car Championship, Team RAC, BMW 320si |
| 2007: | British Touring Car Championship, Team RAC, BMW 320si 5th overall, 3 wins, Champion in Independents World Touring Car Championship, Team RAC, BMW 320si Competed at Brands Hatch (3rd and 4th) and Macau (14th and 8th) |
| 2006: | British Touring Car Championship, Team RAC, MG ZS 3rd overall, 2 wins, 2nd in Independents |
| 2005: | British Touring Car Championship, VX Racing, Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch 6th overall, 2 wins |
| 2004: | British Touring Car Championship, West Surrey Racing, MG ZS 6th overall, 1 win, 2nd in class, 2nd in Independents, 4 class wins |
| 2003: | British Touring Car Championship, MG Sport and Racing, MG ZS 8th overall, 1 win |
| 2002: | British Touring Car Championship, Team Atomic Kitten, MG ZS 14th overall, 6th in class, 6th in Independents, 4 class wins |
| 2001: | Ford Credit Fiesta Zetec S Championship Champion Nominated for Best British Club Driver of the year |
| 2000: | Ford Credit Fiesta Zetec S Championship 11th overall, Junior cup (drivers under 21) - 5th Elf Clio Renault Sport UK Cup Winter Series, Mardi Gras Motorsport 4th overall |
| 1999: | Ford Credit Fiesta Zetec S Championship 11th overall, Junior cup (drivers under 21) - 4th Reached final stage of Vauxhall Vectra SRi Scholarship |
| 1998: | Northern Ireland Metro Association Championship Champion |
| 1997: | Down Autograss Championship 2nd overall Foyle Autograss Championship 2nd overall |
| 1996: | Down Autograss Championship 2nd overall Foyle Autograss Championship 2nd overall |
| 1995: | Ulster Karting Club Championship Junior Intercontinental A |
| 1994: | Ulster Karting Club Championship Cadets - 2nd |
| 1993: | Ulster Karting Club Championship - Cadets Northern Ireland Karting Club Winter Series Cadets - 3rd |
| Archive categories: |  |
Drivers Championship
Final 2008 Standings| Pos. | Driver | Pts |
| 1. | F Giovanardi | 262 |
| 2. | Mat Jackson | 226 |
| 3. | Jason Plato | 223 |
| 4. | Colin Turkington | 212 |
| 5. | Matt Neal | 185 |
| 6. | T Onslow-Cole | 170 |
| 7. | Gordon Shedden | 144 |
| 8. | Darren Turner | 133 |
| 9. | Adam Jones | 119 |
| 10. | Tom Chilton | 107 |
| 11. | Steven Kane | 86 |
| 12. | Robert Collard | 84 |
| 13. | Andrew Jordan | 56 |
| 14. | Mike Jordan | 34 |
| 15. | Stephen Jelley | 14 |
| 16. | Michael Doyle | 5 |
| 17. | Matt Allison | 3 |
| 17. | Chris Stockton | 3 |
| 19. | Harry Vaulkhard | 2 |
| 19. | Jason Hughes | 2 |
| 21. | Erkut Kizilirmak | 1 |
| 21. | John George | 1 |
Manufacturer's C'ship
| Pos. | Make | Pts |
| 1. | Vauxhall | 697 |
| 2. | Seat | 545 |
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