Colin Turkington, the current leader of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship, has become the latest star name to sign up as an ambassador the Go Motorsport campaign.

The Team RAC driver joins the likes of Jenson Button, Allan McNish and fellow BTCC racer Jason Plato in showing his backing for the initiative, set up by the Motor Sports Association with the aim of bringing more people into motorsport at all levels.

Turkington made it all the way to the BTCC having started his career in junior karting and autograss in his native Northern Ireland before moving into the Ford Fiesta Championship and then getting his chance in touring cars.

Having signed up as a Go Motorsport ambassador, Turkington will now hope to see others from Northern Ireland follow in his footsteps.

“I'm delighted to be involved with Go Motorsport," he said. "The people of Northern Ireland are very passionate about their motor sport and hopefully what I'm doing will help encourage people to get involved.

“Rallying and motor cycle racing have always been very strong here, but there are plenty of other opportunities as well. I know, for instance, a lot of effort is going into the kart track at Nutts Corner and that's got to be great news particularly for the next generation of potential competitors.

"It's no exaggeration to say most motor sport wouldn't exist without the efforts of volunteers. More than that, though, volunteering can be a great way into the sport. A good example is one of my engineers at Team RAC - he first got into racing by being a trackside marshal; now, as my data engineer, he's a vital part of our current success."

Alan Gow, chairman of the MSA as well as BTCC series director, was quick to welcome Turkington onto the scheme.

"For some years Colin has been one of the top names in the BTCC, but this year his terrific results in front of our huge trackside crowds (and an ITV audience of millions more) has meant his profile has skyrocketed,” he said. “That can only be of a great benefit to Go Motorsport - and, having himself worked his way up from grass roots level, he has a genuine desire to actively encourage new people into our sport. Of course it's great to see a driver of his standing giving something back to the sport that has served him so well.”