2 days ago
- Automotive
- Belfast Telegraph
Northern Ireland star would be a massive boost to our new GT racing team, admits team owner
Dick Bennetts has confirmed the British squad is set to diversify into the code next year, with a number of programmes, machinery, and drivers all currently under consideration.
It will run alongside WSR's Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship programme, which has resulted in 18 overall titles since 2009, with four of these being landed by Turkington — the joint most decorated person in the series alongside Ashley Sutton and Andy Rouse.
The Portadown man has made almost 570 BTCC race appearances and started 30 of these from pole, chalked up 80 fastest laps, 72 victories and 190 podium finishes.
Commercial difficulties forced Turkington to vacate his seat at WSR for the current BTCC campaign, although he hasn't cut his ties entirely, playing a supporting role from the WSR garage, helping with pre-season testing and even deputising for defending champion Jake Hill during Free Practice One at Croft Circuit earlier this month when the Englishman fell ill.
To keep himself sharp, 43-year-old Turkington has made appearances at a Britcar and Classic Sports Car Club meet in a BMW E36, as well as the Ginetta Cup in a Ginetta GT4.
His most recent track outing came at the Super Touring Power meeting at Brands Hatch, and he was close to winning his sole race at the controls of a 2000-specification, front-wheel-drive Vauxhall Vectra only for late suspension troubles to deny him overall glory.
Turkington has already spoken of his desire to focus on GT racing moving forward — and the WSR news has sent the rumour mill into overdrive, with some suggesting Turkington would be a nailed-on choice to help lead the line at British, European or even World level.
Asked for his views on the possibility of putting Turkington behind the wheel of one of his cars, Bennetts said: 'It is too early to be talking about drivers for GTs in 2026 at the moment but, naturally, Colin is a champion.
'He has achieved fantastic success and would be an asset to any programme we were involved with going forwards.
'This is the start of a new era for WSR and may surprise a few people – but it is something we have been evaluating ever since we were asked to put together a GT programme a few years ago, but decided it was not quite the right time,' the New Zealander continued.
'GT racing is now at an all-time high, making this the perfect moment to move into the space alongside our BTCC programme.
'By declaring our intentions now, we give ourselves the best chance to be fully up-to-speed by the start of the 2026 season.'
