BTCC champion Colin Turkington set for Chinese Touring Car debut

The 36-year-old won the 2018 BTCC title in a WSR BMW 125i M Sport at Brands Hatch last weekend.

He will now handle a 333 Racing Volkswagen Lamando GTS in a bid to help Volkswagen China seal the manufacturers crown.

He will make his first outing at the Wuhan circuit in a shared bill with the World Tourin Car Cup before the second round at Tianma.

"I was put in touch with the team through my engineer Kevin Berry who already has a relationship with them and when I got the opportunity to do a couple of races I jumped at the chance," said Turkington.

"I will also compete at the next round at Tiamna circuit in Shanghai.

"I knew that win lose or draw at Brands Hatch I wanted to keep driving.

"Competing in the CTCC throws me right outside my comfort zone and this is the best way to keep improving.

"It's a street circuit in the city of Wuhan and this is only the second year of the event.

"I've been having a look at some on-board video to learn the track and today I was able to walk the circuit for a closer inspection."

Turkington adds he has not set any targets in his CTCC races.

"It's exciting to see the investment and infrastructure surrounding the event and I'm looking forward to the challenge.

"I'm not putting any expectations on results as I just want to enjoy it but it's also important to score good manufacturer points for VW in their CTCC championship quest.

"The WTCR is also here this week so I'm looking forward to having a closer look at that too."

Volkswagen leads the manufacturers' championship standings and Turkington will join Rodolfo Avila, Zhang Zhen Dong and Yang Fan in the squad.

Turkington will be one of two BTCC racers on the grid this weekend, with Adam Morgan returning at the Beijing Senova Racing Team operation in a Senova CC machine.

He drove for the squad earlier in the year.