Colin Turkington: BTCC Champion

Sun 11th October 2009 Colin Turkington has been crowned 2009 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Champion. The Team RAC driver held off the challenges of Vauxhall’s Fabrizio Giovanardi and Racing Silverline’s Jason Plato to seal the title in the final race of the season at Brands Hatch. We take a look back at the path that Turkington has followed en route to clinching the crown.

Eight seasons after making his BTCC debut, 27-year-old Turkington becomes the youngest modern-era BTCC champion, the first from Northern Ireland and hands Dick Bennetts’ WSR outfit its first outright BTCC title. The youngest champion in recent years was James Thompson, who was 28 when he secured his first championship in 2002.

The same year Thompson won that first title, Turkington made his BTCC debut, after three seasons in the Ford Fiesta championship, which he won in 2001. His long association with West Surrey Racing began as part of the Team Atomic Kitten setup.

The team was launched in February 2002, with Turkington and Gareth Howell unveiled as its drivers. After missing the first round of the season, Team Atomic Kitten made it onto the track for the second meeting at Oulton Park. The highlight of the season for Turkington was his first visit to the BTCC podium – third place in round 11, the sprint race at Croft. He went on to finish sixth in the Independents championship and 14th overall.

2003 saw Colin race alongside Anthony Reid and Warren Hughes for the works MG Sport & Racing team. His first BTCC victory came on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit in round 16 after a controversial last-lap clash between Reid and Yvan Muller. He finished the season in eighth position, just behind Reid and Hughes.

In 2004 Colin stayed with WSR alongside Anthony Reid. With the loss of the MG works backing, the pair dominated the Independents championship, finishing first and second – Reid 12 points ahead of Turkington. Turkington’s impressive season saw him take one outright victory (at Mondello Park) and four independent wins. He finished the season in sixth position in the outright championship, failing to finish just one race.

In 2005, Turkington was landed a plumb drive with VX Racing, alongside Yvan Muller and Gavin Smith. The season was dominated by Matt Neal in the Team Halfords Honda Integra, but Muller managed to finish second in the points standings. Despite taking pole position for the opening race of the season, it didn’t quite go to plan for Turkington in the Astra Sport Hatch. He could manage no better than sixth in the championship. Turkington’s two wins to Muller’s six don’t quite tell the whole story, but sum up a season that failed to live up to expectations.

2006 took Turkington back to West Surrey Racing and the familiar MG ZS, this time running under the Team RAC banner. Driving alongside Rob Collard, it was to be Turkington’s best season so far in his BTCC career. Two race wins saw him finish third in the standings, just a single point behind second-placed Plato. Championship honours went to Matt Neal and he was the only driver to beat Turkington in the Independents championship.

2007 saw the ageing MGs swapped for brand new BMWs. Turkington led the Team RAC challenge, joined by Tom Onslow-Cole. The switch to new rear-wheel drive machinery took some getting used to, but Turkington took his first BTCC title, being crowned Independents champion. He was fifth in the overall championship, taking three wins and outperforming his teammate all year long. Team RAC were also crowned Independent teams champion.

There was consistency for 2008 with a second season in the BMW. A new teammate in the shape of Stephen Jelley but the same old story as Turkington was again the star of the team. A career best four wins in a season took Turkington to fourth in the championship and saw him retain the Independents championship. It was another consistent season where he finished all thirty races, scoring points in all but four of them.

And so on to 2009. Six wins and eight more podium finishes, plus three fastest laps. Turkington outclassed Jelley again and led the championship from before the midway point of the season. He scored points in all but three races, but was forced to fight to the finish, with Vauxhall’s Giovanardi right on his tail and Plato closing rapidly over the final few races.

The season began at Brands Hatch with Turkington taking a second place. The second meeting of the season at Thruxton brought his first win of the year. Donington Park was the scene of his first non-score after a clash with Adam Jones in the first race. Oulton Park and Croft marked an important period in the championship challenge for Turkington. Four wins from six races propelled him to the top of the points standings. At the same time, early season leader Matt Neal suffered a downturn in his fortunes and it was Giovanardi who emerged as Turkington’s main rival.

Giovanardi took two wins to Turkington’s one at Snetterton and then continued to close the gap at Knockhill and Silverstone. Rockingham was crucial as Giovanardi outscored Turkington in the first two races. It looked like the same was going to happen in race three, but everything changed over the course of just one lap towards the end of the race.

Turkington lost places when he made contact with Jason Plato, only for Giovanardi to get involved with ex-F1 star Johnny Herbert and drop down the order. Turkington went on to finish fourth while Giovanardi ended up out of the points.

It left Turkington with a 13-point advantage heading into the final meeting of the season at Brands Hatch. It was still far from a done deal though, with some 52 points up for grabs over the three races.

Heading to Brands Hatch, it was Giovanardi who looked to pose the biggest threat to Turkington’s title charge. But nobody reckoned on Jason Plato becoming only the second driver ever to win three BTCC races in a day.

Turkington qualified down in 10th with Giovanardi third and Plato second. Staying out of trouble was the key to the first race and in his usual, confident style, that’s just what Turkington did. He finished eighth. Plato took the win and the maximum points-haul that went with it, while Giovanardi crossed the line in third.

Two races to go and Turkington’s lead over Giovanardi was down to six points and now Plato was just another eight behind the Italian. What was to follow in rounds 29 and 30 was one of the closest fought on-track battles for the BTCC title in recent history.

Turkington was forced to battle for track position with his two key rivals. During the penultimate race, he picked off the drivers ahead of him one-by-one until he was up third behind Plato and Giovanardi. The trio crossed the line 1-2-3 to leave everything to race for in the final race of the season.

With four generations of his proud family watching on, Turkington was now just 17 laps away from his first BTCC crown. And what a race it was to bring the curtain down on the 2009 championship.

When the safety car came out at the end of the first lap, Turkington was second, sandwiched between two VX Racing Vectras. Matt Neal was in front, with Giovanardi behind. The Vauxhalls’ game plan was clear – Neal was going to slow down the pack and try to get Giovanardi into the lead. After just a few laps, there was contact between Neal and Turkington. The BMW was damaged but could continue. Yet again, Plato was not far behind. In fact, as the pack shuffled, the Chevrolet driver emerged in the lead. Turkington was second and Giovanardi fourth.

That was it. Turkington had done enough. Champion.

Few will begrudge Turkington his title – a popular champion in the paddock and trackside. His name joins an illustrious list of 32 others engraved on the famous trophy. It’s what the past eight seasons have all been about. The question now is what comes next?