THE THREE CHAMPIONSHIPS
2009 THE FIRST ONE
Team: WSR Car: BMW 320si Wins: 6 Podiums: 14 Driving the Team Rac-branded WSR BMW 320si, Turkington was in his third year with the rear-wheel-drive machine and it clicked together. The season was not a simple one with huge competition from both the Rml-run Chevrolet Lacetti of Jason Plato and the factory Vauxhall Vectra of Fabrizio Giovanardi. The BMW lapped up the strong acceleration zones at Oulton Park and Croft, where he took two wins apiece, but it went down to the wire. With Plato leading the final round, Turkington had to finish at least in the top four to seal the crown. He held his nerve to land his first title.
2014 THIRD PLACE IS ENOUGH
Team: WSR Car: BMW 125i M Sport Wins: 8 Podiums: 19 The ebay Motors-supported car was fully refined in its second year and Turkington was ready to pounce – but once again, Jason Plato was the man who proved to be his biggest nemesis. Turkington again performed his now customary trick of dominating the mid-part of the championship when the series visits the tracks that are most suited to rear-wheel-drive. That laid the foundations, but Plato was keeping the pressure up all the way through. In the showdown at Brands Hatch, Triple Eight Race Engineering MG man Plato was gifted a win by team-mate Sam Tordoff, who adhered to team orders, but Turkington’s third position was enough for him to seal a second crown.
2018 KEEPING IT TICKING OVER
Team: WSR Car: BMW 125i M Sport Wins: 1 Podiums: 10 The BMW 125i M Sport driver was quietly optimistic coming into the series, with a developed BMW. The car was not a match for some other rivals, but the experience and guile of Turkington guided him through the pitfalls of the series, which includes success ballast, option tyres and reversed grids. He was boosted when the two drivers who were chasing down the advantage he had built – Tom Ingram (Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis) and Ash Sutton (Team BMR Subaru Levorg) – were both booted out of the top two spots at Knockhill for ride height infringements. He was nervous despite taking a 34-point lead into the finale, but when Ingram failed to finish on the podium in race two at Brands Hatch, a third crown was his.