Colin Turkington will return to the World Touring Car Championship at the wheel of a Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T when the series heads to China for rounds 21 and 22 of the 2012 campaign.
The 2009 British Touring Car Championship Champion has made sporadic outings in the WTCC since 2007, securing his maiden victory in 2010 during the WTCC race of Japan, held at Okayama.
His 2012 return sees the Ulsterman returning at the wheel of a Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T, marking his first appearance in a Front Wheel Drive car since 2006, when he raced an MG ZS to 3rd in the British Touring Car Championship drivers’ standings. The car will be run by the West Surrey Racing outfit under the Team Aviva-Cofco banner.
“It’s great to be back in the WTCC and I’m really excited to be driving at Shanghai’s F1 circuit,” explains Turkington.
“I haven’t raced since the WTCC event at Tianma last year, so it will probably take a while to get the rust out of the system. It’s also the first time I drive the Chevrolet Cruze. The last time I drove a front wheel drive touring car was for in 2006, so that’s another steep learning curve!”
The Cruze has been obtained from RML and WSR Team Principal Dick Bennetts is looking forward to returning to the WTCC.
“We’re really pleased to be back in the WTCC with the support of Aviva,” added Bennetts.
“It’s going to be a tough challenge for Colin and the team to learn a new car and a new track, but we’re all looking forward to it. We’ve obtained the car from RML and they have bent over backwards to help us get everything to Shanghai in time, so we can’t thank them enough.”