Turkington’s brother joins new series

TOURING CAR TROPHY

James Turkington, the younger brother of reigning British Touring Car champion Colin, will join the Touring Car Trophy grid this season in a SEAT Leon Supercopa machine.

The Northern Irishman has signed a deal to continue in the car he has raced in Northern Ireland over the last few seasons. The front-wheel-drive car will be tended by established BTCC outfit Ciceley Motorsport, which will field Turkington Jr in all rounds of the five-event series.

“I wasn’t sure what I would be doing this year, but this opportunity fits perfectly,” said Turkington. “What with working, it makes a full campaign very difficult in terms of a time commitment, so entering the TCT made perfect sense.”

Ciceley will also support the Teamwork Huff operation, which is fielding a VW Golf

TCR for Sunny Wong in the concurrent contest. Team manager Adam Morgan said: “James bought his race car in 2015 and has raced it in the Northern Ireland saloon car championship in 2015 and 2018, winning the championship in both years, so he will be straight on the pace in the Touring Car Trophy.”

Turkington added: “It is tough to know how we will get on, because we don’t know about the level of the balance of performance across the different classes yet, but everyone wants to be on the top step of the podium when they race.”

The TCT, which also features Henry Neal, the son of three-time BTCC champion Matt, begins at Oulton Park this weekend.