Darren Turner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Darren Turner | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 2008 BTCC driver | |
| Nationality |  |
| Nickname | - |
| Car # | 12 |
| Team | SEAT Sport UK |
| Car | SEAT León |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 4 |
| Podium finishes | 11 |
| Poles | 3 |
| Fastest laps | 5 |
| Debut season | 2006 |
| Best championship result | 6th in 2007 |
| 2008 position | 8th (78 points) |
Darren Turner is an auto racing driver from Reading, Berkshire, England, born on April 13, 1974. He was McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year in 1996. He is a former test driver for the McLaren Formula One team, but has raced primarily in touring cars and sportscars since 2000. He spent 2 years in the DTM for Keke Rosberg's Mercedes-Benz-powered team, also winning several ASCAR races. For 2006 he races sportscars for Aston Martin, but also drives five rounds of the BTCC for SEAT, sharing their 2nd car with James Thompson. In his first drive for the team he finished 3rd.
He finished second in the first two races at Knockhill, but lost both results for technical infringements. While running second to team-mate Jason Plato under a safety car in race one, he did not stay close to Plato's car, thus preventing Plato's championship rivals from being close to him. This incurred a 20-second time penalty, dropping him to 10th, however the team then removed the 'Success Ballast' he had earned for second place. As this applies to the order cars cross the line, not the final amended race result (drivers who were elevated by his penalty did not gain extra success ballast), this is a disqualification offence.
He remains with the team for 2007, now full time team-mate to Plato. Luck was again against him at Rockingham - after qualifying on pole the car had an electrical failiure before race one. His first win came in race 11 at Croft [1], with two more at Knockhill.
As well as driving for SEAT in the BTCC, Darren also competed in the 2007 Le Mans 24 Hours, competing in the GT1 class driving for Prodrive Aston Martin Racing alongside David Brabham and Rickard Rydell. After a tense fight against the Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R of Johnny O' Connell, Jan Magnussen and Ron Fellows, the Aston prevailed to win a Le Mans class race for the first time since the return of Aston Martin to endurance sportscar racing.
He opened his 2008 racing season by competing in the Rolex 24 finishing 4th in class and overall sharing a Krohn Racing Pontiac-Riley with Niclas Jonsson and Ricardo Zonta.
[edit] External links
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jonny Kane |
McLaren Autosport BRDC Award 1996 |
Succeeded by Andrew Kirkaldy |
|
|||||||||||
