Champion Turkington turns to WTCC

Date published : 03 Jun 2010 - 19:38:51

Reigning British Touring Car champion Colin Turkington has confirmed he will contest at least three rounds of this year's World Touring Car Championship.

Turkington has been without a drive this year due to a lack of sponsorship but an agreement with West Surrey Racing will see the 28-year-old from Portadown drive a BMW 320si - the same car in which he won the British title in 2009 - in the WTCC.

His first WTCC outing will come at Portimao in Portugal on July 4 before rounds at Brands Hatch on July 18 and Brno in the Czech Republic on August 1. Further race appearances are dependent on securing fresh sponsorship deals.

"I feel this is a natural progression for me after last year's championship," said Turkington.

"We were bitterly disappointed when - due to insufficient sponsorship - we were unable to compete in either the BTCC or WTCC full programmes.

"This opportunity - initially for three rounds - has been made possible through the support of a group of private sponsors.

"We are really grateful to them and hopefully, with further support from others, we may be able to make additional rounds towards the end of the season."

Turkington hopes his efforts at the coming rounds will pave the way for a full-time WTCC campaign next year.

"This is part of our plan to target a full programme in 2011," he said.

"We will be working hard over the coming months to demonstrate the WTCC is a fantastic event with which to be associated as a sponsor and will be speaking with a number of organisations in the hope they will come on board for next year."