West Surrey Racing to field just three BMWs at Donington Park

West Surrey Racing have confirmed that they will field just three of their BMW 330e M Sport entries at this weekend’s British Touring Car Championship opener after being unable to fill its vacant fourth seat.

The multiple title-winning team had hoped to secure a driver for the opening meeting but despite its best efforts, that hasn’t been possible. Discussions remain ongoing to hopefully ensure the cars participation at future rounds however.

Instead, they will run two cars for Colin Turkington and Adam Morgan under the Team BMW banner, while Jake Hill will race under the Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport name once again.

Turkington enters what his 20th season in the UK’s premier motorsport series looking to become the first driver in the series’ history to win the title five times, and he’s hoping that the vast improvements that have been made to the car over the off-season will play their part in guiding him towards that accolade.

“It’s hard to believe I’m going into my 20th season in the BTCC, but I’ve used all the experience I’ve gained in that time to make sure I’m as prepared as I can be for Donington and the year as a whole,” said Turkington.

“The target is always to win the Drivers’, Teams’ and Manufacturers’ titles and I’m sure that the improvements that WSR have made to the BMW will give me a better chance of going to the final round in contention for the big prize than in 2023.”

Morgan meanwhile begins his second season with the team focused on achieving one target from the get-go, claiming his first WSR victory.

“I’m so ready for the new season and after testing for three days last week I feel like I’m ‘in the zone’,” he stated. “The BMW is a faster car because of all the work the team’s done over the winter and we’ve already turned some of the improvements into laptime.

“A big target is to get my first win as a Team BMW driver and after finishing on the podium at Donington on my WSR debut last year, I don’t see why it couldn’t be this weekend.”

After finishing third overall for the past two seasons, Hill is another that enters the new season as a championship contender and he’s been left more than buoyed by what proved to be a positive pre-season testing programme.

“Heading into my third year with WSR and Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport I feel stronger than ever,” Hill said. “The competition looks like it might be even more intense than last year, but we’re ready for battle.

“The ‘Laser Beamer’ has felt really good in testing in both the wet and dry conditions, so whatever happens, we’ll give it our all to make sure it’s a weekend and a season to remember.”