Turkington to race in Scandinavia

The former British Touring Car champion was a race-winner in the World Touring Car Championship with WSR last year, but has been unable to find a budget to compete at world level again.

Turkington, 28, joins an impressive list of drivers in the series - including fellow former BTCC champions Rickard Rydell and James Thompson, plus four-time Swedish champion Richard Goransson, ex-Formula 1 driver Jan Magnussen and Formula 3000 race-winner Jason Watt.

He is under no illusion as to the challenge he faces, but believes his knowledge of the BMW 320si, following four years of racing such a model for WSR, will be crucial.

"I know the BMW like the back of my hand, but the tracks in Scandinavia are another matter, and they very tight and twisty - very different from most UK tracks," he told AUTOSPORT.

"If I can get my head around them quickly then we should be in for a good season, but there's an incredibly strong field of drivers I'll be up against and it won't be easy to beat guys like Thompson, Rydell and [Jan] Magnussen. They've won a lot between them and won't be keen to give way to anyone."

His team-mate will be team principal Jan Nilsson, who said: "Colin is a top driver and he can be very successful with us. He knows a lot about the BMW and so do we, so I think we will compliment each other very well."

Turkington did not rule out making guest appearances in the BTCC with WSR, provided he could find the budget and the team has a car available for him.

"There are only two STCC rounds that clash with the BTCC, so it's something I'd like to do," he added. "It's all a question of whether we can put the package together, though."