Born in Portadown, Northern Ireland Colin was raised into a bike-racing family (his grandfather and father having sponsored the road-racing exploits of Isle of Man TT winner Phillip McCallen) in 1982, it was two-wheeled action that the young Colin became obsessed with.
However, when he began competing as a teenager it was on four wheels in Autograssing – driving a 1000cc Mini. It was clear from the start that he had a knack for racing touring cars. In his early career, he captured titles in both the Northern Irish Metro Series, as well as the Ford Credit Fiesta Zetec Championship.
The BTCC
He got his big break the British Touring Car scene in 2002, snagging his first podium in the process while racing in a year-old MG ZS, sponsored by the pop group Atomic Kitten (yes this did happen!). He finished 14th in the Drivers’ Championship.
For 2003, Turkington moved to the manufacturer-backed West Surrey Racing, winning his first race at Brands Hatch and finishing 8th in the Drivers’ Championship. Despite the loss of official MG backing in 2004, he finished 6th in the 2004 Drivers’ Championship, taking the second win of his BTCC career at Mondello Park.
A single season with VX Racing followed in 2005 before Turkington returned to WSR to race the RAC-liveried MG and BMW 320si machines between 2006 and 2009. 2009 would be the start of something magical for the Ulsterman.
His First BTCC Title
During that period the BTCC was going through a transitional period which also was a domination session for anyone who drove a Vauxhall. Italian Fabrizio Giovanardi won back to back championships in 2007 & ’08. Turkington was looking to break that.
2009 would be the turning point for Turkington’s BTCC career. During which he piloted his BMW to six wins and the overall Drivers’ championship despite late-season charges from past champions Fabrizio Giovanardi and Jason Plato. This was his first BTCC crown and won in sensational fashion on the final race of the season.
Turkington finished consistently, with an unbroken run of eighteen point-scoring finishes, from Croft onwards, failing to finish in just one race.
The WTRC
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 4th, eventually finishing 3rd in race one and 5th in race two, comfortably winning the Independents’ class in both races.
Return To The BTCC
After a disappointing 2012 & 2013 campaign Turkington made his return back to the BTCC, Behind the wheel of a brand new BMW 1 Series (again for WSR) he soon became a title contender and in the following year he claimed his 2nd championship which included 7 former Champions on that season’s grid.
The following year Colin made the shocking switch of moving to from West Surrey Racing to Team BMR running the Volkswagen Passat CC. Also switching from RWD machinery to FWD alongside Jason Plato, Aron Smith and Warren Scott. It proved to be once again a difficult time for the Ulsterman as he could only finish 4th that season and 4th again in 2016 which included the team, making the switch VW to Subaru having to withdraw from the Thruxton round after an issue with the fuel line potentially causing fires.
His Golden Period
In 2017 returned back to West Surrey Racing which earlier that year would be re-branded as Team BMW where he currently is still to this day making this not only his longest period for any BTCC team but also his most successful one. securing 4 wins and 9 other podiums proved he still got.
2018 & 2019 would be his golden time for himself and the team as he would cliched his 3rd & 4th drivers’ championships both in dramatic fashion at Brands Hatch. He dedicated his 3rd to his mum Mavis who had tragically passed away earlier in the summer.
The Present
In more recent years he has been an ever presence to the front grid in every season. Coming close in 2021 & 2022 where going into Silverstone he was leading the championship however reliability issues throughout that weekend scuppered his chances of claiming a record 5th BTCC title.
Outside of racing he has became and ambassador for title sponsors such as SAP, AVIVA, AVIVA Cofco, eBay, BMW and the Irish Tourist Board. Just some of the big world players that have chosen the Northern Irishman to front their campaigns. A fantastic ambassador for Northern Ireland something I wished should be recognised more on his success within the BTCC.
