Colin Turkington to enter Super Touring race at Silverstone
Current British Touring Car Championship leader Colin Turkington will make his debut in the HSCC Super Touring Championship at the Silverstone Classic.
The 2009 BTCC Champion will get behind the wheel of a BMW CSL, known as the ‘Batmobile’, alongside 2004 Le Mans Endurance Series LMP2 champion Sam Hancock.
“It’s a real endorsement of all the hard work we have put in building the championship,” series organiser Jonny Westbrook told TouringCarTimes. “Not only to attract a driver like Colin, but to have a legendary car like the Batmobile on the grid also. We are very pleased to have a number of genuine Group 2 cars joining us at Silverstone this year, alongside our excellent Group A class. It really adds to the diversity and stays true to the ‘genuine original touring cars ’70 – ’00’ ethos that we started the series with back in 2012.”
Turkington is also planning to compete in the Ford Mustang Celebration Trophy at the Silverstone Classic, possibly racing a Ford Galaxie in the race for tin-tops pre-1966.
Meanwhile, Jason Minshaw is expected to enter a 1988 Demon Tweeks-liveried BMW M3 E30, as raced by the late Roland Ratzenberger. Minshaw also owns a Volvo S40, which he is hoping to test later in the year ahead of its series debut in 2015.
“2014 is a very a poignant year for motorsport being the 20th anniversary of the events of Imola in 1994,” added Westbrook. “We are very proud and privileged to have the Minshaw family’s BMW E30 M3 racing with us at the Classic, a car which was raced by Roland Ratzenberger in the final few rounds of the 1988 BTCC. The car is a real time warp and still in original ownership. It’s very special for me personally to be able to have this car on the grid, and in the hands of a very quick driver, Jason Minshaw, I expect to see it at the sharp end of the grid.”
Finally, Honda BTCC team-mates Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden will also be in action at the Silverstone Classic, sharing a Ford Lotus Cortina in the U2TC event. Neal was seen testing the Cortina at the Silverstone Classic media day, while Shedden will be looking to get some time in the car before the Classic at the end of July.
