Turkington in surprise BTCC test return

Four-time British Touring Car Championship title winner Colin Turkington has made an unexpected return to the West Surrey Racing BMW team for a Brands Hatch test.

The Northern Irishman is celebrating his 43rd birthday on Friday by filling in for reigning champion Jake Hill, who has a clashing commitment racing a Ferrari 296 GT3 in the Mugello 12 Hours.

The current commercial climate resulted in Turkington and WSR suspending their full-time relationship in 2025, but the test hints that the door is wide open to a full-time resumption should the financial numbers stack up.

“It’s the ultimate birthday present to get a test back in the touring car,” Turkington told Autosport, moments after being presented in the pit garage with a birthday cake (naturally, it was Colin the Caterpillar).

“Obviously Jake had clashing commitments and I jumped at the chance. With me not having a race programme this year, it’s a great way to keep myself sharp.

“The plan for the year is to drive whatever I can get my hands on and keep myself ready for any opportunity that comes up.”

WSR boss Dick Bennetts said: “We are looking for sponsors for next year to put Colin back into the championship.

“He’s part of the family; he’s not retired – this is a sabbatical.”

“There was a huge amount of energy on behalf of West Surrey Racing to get me in the seat for 2025 but unfortunately we just fell short,” added Turkington.

“The positive side is, it gives us another 12 months to make it happen. These commercial realities have hit me twice before in the BTCC. Sometimes a year out lets you breathe and reset, and go for another spell.”

Four of the BTCC teams are in action at Brands Hatch in what is a private test organised by Alliance Racing.

Its NAPA Ford Focus STs are being piloted by the regular quartet of Ash Sutton, Dan Cammish, Dan Rowbottom and Sam Osborne; WSR’s BMW 330i M Sports are in the hands of Turkington, Aiden Moffat, Daryl DeLeon and Charles Rainford; Excelr8 Motorsport’s Hyundai i30 Ns are in action with Tom Ingram, Tom Chilton and Adam Morgan; and a brace of Un-Limited Motorsport Cupra Leons are being driven by Max Hall and Dexter Patterson.

Turkington is expecting his next outing to be at the Classic Sports Car Club meeting at Donington Park on 12-13 April. He won his class last weekend at Silverstone in a SuperSport Endurance Cup round, sharing a Mazda MX-5 Mk3: “It was so refreshing to go into a race with no worries. I’ll drive whatever I can.”