TURKINGTON JR JOINS THE MINI CHALLENGE

FORMULA E REPORTER

James Turkington will enter the Mini Challenge this season for his first full season of British racing.

Turkington, the 22-year-old younger brother of two-time British Touring Car champion Colin, has signed to race a new Gen 3 F56 Challenge car with the Excelr8 team.

The Portadown resident has previous tin-top experience from Irish racing, making his competition debut in a Ford Fiesta Zetec in 2013 before moving up to the SEAT Supercopa Ireland last season. He has only raced on British soil once, at Brands Hatch in 2013 at the wheel of a Fiesta.

Turkington got his first run in his new Mini at Donington Park last week. He said: “The car was great fun. I thought a lot about what to race this year and Colin had driven one of the older- generation Mini Challenge cars before so suggested I had a look. The championship is really competitive and the new car seems to have taken off in a big way.

“Having raced the SEAT last year I’m used to a 300bhp front-wheel-drive format. The Mini has around the same power, but sitting on the right and using the sequential gearbox took some adjusting to.

“I have no real targets this year. I just want to enjoy my racing. People often say does Colin guide me. Yeah we have a few chats and banter over the table at breakfast, and he feeds me some good advice, but this was my choice. Touring cars one day would be a dream, but it’s not the be-all and end-all for me. I’ll see how this year goes before making any further plans.”