West Surrey Racing: the team behind BMW's BTCC success

WSR lost its MG backing for 2004 but continued to run a privateer MG Motor ZS team, eventually securing title sponsorship from RAC. “At the end of 2006, RAC’s marketing director asked us why we were racing a car you couldn’t buy,” Bennetts recalls, “and we explained that it was all we could afford.” In response, RAC helped the team buy a pair of E90-generation BMW 320Si tin-tops. “I thought about buying some ex-works Vauxhalls, but you can never compete against the team that builds them,” he says. “We took a gamble and flew to Germany. The BMW brand name sounded great, especially with what they had done in the past. It was a gamble to switch from front- to rear-wheel drive, but BMW Motorsport came and helped us with an early test and we’ve never looked back.”

Turkington claimed the team’s first BTCC title in an E90 in 2009, subsequently taking further championships in 2014 and 2018 in the 125i M Sport and last year in the new 330i M Sport. However, it hasn’t been simple: RAC pulled out after 2009, leaving the team without the funding to run Turkington. But a cold call from eBay Motors resulted in a small sponsorship deal, which grew to title sponsorship in 2013.

WSR pressed on and in 2017 secured official support from BMW UK. Most impressively, the team has been consistently near the front – a tough challenge in the ultra-competitive BTCC. “If you dominate, you just get your engine boost turned down,” explains Bennetts. So what is the secret to sustained success?

“You can keep spending, but you have to draw a line. The only method of balancing in the BTCC is engine boost. If you’re quick in the corners, they still turn your boost down, so then you suffer at top speed. You can spend money making an aerodynamic car that’s quick in corners, but go too quick and you lose that advantage.”

For Bennetts, the key is preparation. “You’ve got to be ready for all conditions,” he says. “If it looks like it might rain, change the cars to a halfway set-up. It might cost 0.2sec a lap if it stays dry, but being on a dry set-up costs more if it rains.”

Experience helps: WSR’s 12 full-time staff, which expands to 27 with contract mechanics on race weekend, includes several who have been with the team for decades. “We have full-time number one and number two mechanics per car and dedicated data race engineers and tyre and fuel men per car,” says Bennetts.

While budget constraints meant Turkington hasn’t spent his entire career with WSR, this driver-team pairing has become one of the most successful in BTCC history. Bennetts says: “He’s part of the family. It’s great, but also a problem in some ways. We’ve had drivers speak to us who think Colin gets favouritism. He doesn’t: he gets equal treatment, but he’s so methodical, detailed and focused. He’s 100% a professional racing driver.

“We pride ourselves on equal treatment, because then the best man wins. If we develop a new part and there’s only one, they’ll take turns testing it. If it’s good, we’ll make five: three cars, two spares. The drivers get data overlays of every session. Not happy with your engine? We’ll swap engines. We did that halfway through last year. We give them cars capable of winning, then it’s up to them to do the job.”

Last year was perhaps WSR’s finest yet, with Turkington and 2013 champion Andrew Jordan finishing first and second in the points, together taking 11 wins from the 30 races. And that was despite the team facing a race to simply get the new 3 Series on track on time.

“The road car only launched in the UK at the start of March,” recalls Bennetts. “We were struggling to get shells before that. We went to a showroom to see the car and didn’t get the shells until the end of November. Before that, we just had to look at the layout and bodywork and work out how to do the aero balance, geometries and so on.”

The team finished the three race cars (it also runs Tom Oliphant) in time for just two days of pre-season testing. Yet in a series in which it normally takes half a season to dial into a new car, it immediately set the pace. And, Bennetts notes with pride, the team didn’t have a single mechanical failure during the season. “You do your homework and it pays off,” he says.

The drivers helped, with Bennetts saying that Turkington and Jordan “really push each other. Without us developing the car they’re always pushing, pushing, pushing. The beauty of having two quick guys is neither can afford to rest.”

But after WSR took nine wins in the first 15 races, the opposition, helped by some boost tweaks, caught up. That led to the incredible season-finale at Brands Hatch, where Honda’s Dan Cammish nearly snatched the crown. Turkington’s healthy points lead was erased after a controversial tangle with Matt Neal, Cammish’s team-mate, in the second race.