West Surrey Racing names unchanged BTCC driver line-up for 2018
The West Surrey Racing-run BMW squad will enter the 2018 British Touring Car Championship with an unchanged driver squad of Colin Turkington and Rob Collard with Andrew Jordan remaining under BMW Pirtek Racing banner in the team.
Two-time BTCC champion Turkington narrowly missed out on the 2017 title at the final race of the season to Ashely Sutton while team-mate Collard also impressed for the WSR squad on his way to fifth place in the drivers’ standings.
The West Surrey Racing-run BMW squad will enter the 2018 British Touring Car Championship with an unchanged driver squad of Colin Turkington and Rob Collard with Andrew Jordan remaining under BMW Pirtek Racing banner in the team.
Two-time BTCC champion Turkington narrowly missed out on the 2017 title at the final race of the season to Ashely Sutton while team-mate Collard also impressed for the WSR squad on his way to fifth place in the drivers’ standings.
2018 will mark Turkington’s 12th year with WSR having clinched both his previous BTCC titles plus a successful stint in the former World Touring Car Championship. The Northern Irish driver is relishing another campaign in familiar surroundings and is eager to go one better and clinch a third title in 2018.
“I’m excited for the new season and delighted to be staying with Team BMW and WSR for another year,” Turkington said. “This place feels like home to me, having raced here for 11 years already, and the environment is exactly what I need to get the best performance out of myself. I was bitterly disappointed to miss out on the Drivers’ Championship at the season finale last year and I’ll continue to put everything into winning the title this time around.
“The BMW 125i M Sport has won more titles than any other car in the past five years and the developments we’ve already tested for 2018 look like they’re going to make us even stronger, but we know that the competition won’t stand still so we’re expecting a tight battle.”
Team-mate Collard enjoyed his most successful campaign to date last year with podiums at each of the opening six rounds and was a certain title contender until a heavy crash at Silverstone ruled him out of the final five races.
“The 2017 season was my most competitive to date in the BTCC and had I not missed the final five races, I’m certain I would have been in with a very strong chance of being champion,” Collard said. “I’m fully recovered, have been training hard and can’t wait to get back behind the wheel of the BMW for the first test of the new year.
“This will be my ninth straight season with WSR and my 11th in total. Over that time my performances have improved year-on-year and I’ve played a key role in several title-winning campaigns. The Drivers’ Championship is my goal for 2018, and with the team continuing to evolve the car, I’m confident of fighting at the front.”
Jordan, running under the BMW Pirtek Racing banner again for 2018, made the switch to the team last year to tak on the challenge of switching to rear-wheel drive to finish ninth in the overall drivers’ championship. With a year’s experience to lean upon Jordan is confident of climbing the BTCC ranks once again.
“This is the most excited I’ve been about a new BTCC season for a long time,” Jordan said. “Having the continuity of a second year with WSR and the vast engineering resource and experience they have will be a huge benefit to me.
“I was delighted to win three times with BMW Pirtek Racing in 2017 and lead the most distance, and now, with a year’s experience of a rear-wheel-drive touring car under my belt, I’m very confident of being a consistent challenger throughout the year. If we can achieve this as a team, there’s no reason why we can’t challenge for the championship.”
