Colin Turkington and Stephen Jelley will remain with Team BMW in the 2022 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, following confirmation this morning (Thursday) that they will drive BMW 33e M Sports this season.
This completes the line-up of West Surrey Racing developed and run race cars on this year's grid, following the earlier confirmation that Jake Hill would race the other machine under the MB Motorsport powered by ROKiT banner.
Turkington will chase a record-breaking fifth BTCC crown this year, as he aims to improve upon his stellar record in the championship. With 60 career wins to his name, Turkington is third on the series all-time winners list. Turkington has finished in the top two in the standings every season since teaming up with BMW in 2017 and will be hopeful of conitinuing that run this year.
Teammate Jelley is set for back-to-back seasons with the team he made his BTCC debut with back in 2008. He will be aiming to build on a solid 2021 season in which he claimed two podium finishes on his way to 12th in the final standings.
Turkington said: "I'm very happy to be back with Team BMW for the new season. I'm extremely proud to represent BMW, and to do it with WSR, a team that I made my BTCC debut with 20 years ago and have won all my titles with.
"Of course, winning the championship is the aim, as it always is, but the move to Hybrid technology is going to add an extra challenge. Because of the change in technology and weight, it's going to be like starting with an all-new car for everyone on the grid, so being able to keep calm, maximise every points opportunity, stay reliable and race well will be more important than ever before. It has the potential to create overtaking opportunities that previously didn't exist and gives us all the chance to race more sustainably - which is something that's very important to me."
Jelley said: "I didn't look at moving in any way, shape, or form, this winter. We had a good year in 2021 and while it would have been nice to pick up a win, the overall performance was strong. I'm looking forward to working with WSR, BMW and Colin again, and also with Jake - who's a good chap and a hard racer. I think we'll all be very fast and competitive.
"My engineer Andy [Miller] has experience from Formula E that should help us hit the ground running with the Hybrid system too. In a season where there'll be so many unknowns, having that experience, allied to WSR's preparation and BMW's reliability, is going to be very important."
Tickets for all 2022 BTCC events at MSV circuits are on sale now with free entry for under-13s. For more information click here.