BTCC 2017: Dual champion Turkington rejoins WSR BMW outfit

Turkington has spent nine of his 12 seasons in the tin-top series with the outfit, taking 30 wins and both of his titles.

He took a sabbatical from the BTCC after winning the championship in a Team RAC BMW 320si in 2009, but returned to WSR in 2013, when the team was running the 125i M Sport for the first season.

The 34-year-old spent the last two seasons with Team BMR, firstly with a VW CC and then with a brand new Subaru Levorg, with which he finished fourth in last year's competition after five victories.

However, BMR and Turkington parted ways in January after a turbulent end to the 2016 campaign.

"It feels fantastic to rejoin WSR for the 2017 season and I couldn't be more excited about my return," Turkington said.

"From my debut in touring cars in 2002 right through to winning my second BTCC title, it's been like a second home for me and my greatest achievements in motor racing have all come with them.

"Combining our accumulated rear-wheel-drive expertise and strong work ethic is a recipe for success and I'm confident this gives me the perfect opportunity to fight for honours once again.

"I'm particularly looking forward to driving the BMW 125i M Sport and feel the developments that have come about since 2014."

Dick Bennetts, WSR team principal, said he thinks there is another chapter to be written in the team and driver's history with each other.

"It's great have Colin back for 2017," said Bennetts.

"His performances with various WSR BMWs have been extremely strong and he's been a key part of our most successful seasons in the BTCC in 2009 and 2014.

"There's definitely a sense of unfinished business as, despite our intentions, commercial reasons meant we weren't able to stay together to defend our championships.

"We now head into 2017 with a very strong driver line-up, and we're aiming for more titles."

WSR has already signed Andrew Jordan for its 2017 line-up, and has one other seat yet to fill, with talks ongoing and an announcement expected by the end of the month.

Rob Collard drove with the team last term and has yet to lock in his future.

2017 BTCC LINE-UP SO FAR

AmD Tuning Audi S3 Saloon
Ollie Jackson, Ant Whorton-Eales

BTC Racing Chevrolet Cruze
Chris Smiley, Dave Newsham

Ciceley Racing Mercedes-Benz A-Class
Adam Morgan

Eurotech Racing Honda Civic Type-R
Jeff Smith, Jack Goff

Handy Motorsport Toyota Avensis
Rob Austin

Laser Tools Racing Mercedes-Benz A-Class
Aiden Moffat

Maximum Motorsport Ford Focus
Stewart Lines

Motorbase Performance Ford Focus
Mat Jackson, Luke Davenport, Martin Depper

Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra
Tom Chilton, Senna Proctor

Speedworks Toyota Avensis
Tom Ingram

Team BMR Subaru Levorg
Jason Plato, Ash Sutton, James Cole, TBA

Team Dynamics Honda Civic Type-R
Gordon Shedden, Matt Neal, Matt Simpson

Team Hard VW CC
Will Burns, Michael Epps, Jake Hill

Team Parker Ford Focus
Stephen Jelley

Triple Eight MG MG6
Aron Taylor-Smith, Dan Lloyd

WSR BMW 125i M Sport
Andrew Jordan, Colin Turkington, TBA