Darren Turner

PROFILE

Vital Statistics…

Date of birth:                 13 April 1974 
Place of birth:                Camberley, Surrey 
Nationality:                    British 
Lives:                            Near Banbury, Oxfordshire 
Family:                          Single
First race:                      1992 Jim Russell Racing Drivers School
First victory:                  1993 Formula First at Brands Hatch
Hobbies:                        Flying, football, golf
Helmet colours:              White, light and dark blue

 

Career Credentials…

2008    SEAT Sport UK driver alongside Jason Plato in the BTCC for second full season.  Le Mans 24 Hours with Aston Martin Racing and selected other international sportscar races in Europe and the USA. Development drivers for Red Bull Racing.

2007    SEAT Sport UK driver in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship - 3 wins, 5 podiums, 6th in Drivers' Championship. 1st in GT1 class at Le Mans 24 Hours with Aston Martin Racing (with David Brabham/Rickard Rydell).  Two races for Petersen White Lightning in ALMS GT2 class in a Ferrari 430 GT - victory at Salt Lake City, Utah (with Tomas Enge).  Four races in the FIA GT Championship with Scuderia Ecosse in Ferrari 430 GT. Two races for Team Modena in Aston Martin DBR9 -2nd at Silverstone LMS.  Development driver for Red Bull Technology. 

2006    Debut in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, finishing 3rd in his first race (at Thruxton).  Contested half the season and scored 41 points in his eight race finishes in a SEAT Leon.  6th in the GT1 Drivers' standings.  American Le Mans Series season (minus Mosport which clashed with the BTCC) with Aston Martin Racing, scoring 2 wins and 6 podiums in a DBR9.  1st at Petit Le Mans (with Tomas Enge) 

2005    Key member of the driving force in Aston Martin's return to international sportscar racing with the DBR9.  1st at Sebring (with David Brabham and Stephane Ortelli); 3rd at Le Mans (with David Brabham and Stephane Sarrazin); 2nd in the Tourist Trophy at Silverstone (with David Brabham); 1st at the Nurburgring 1000kms in a Cirtek Aston Martin.  McLaren F1 test driver

2004    Le Mans with Prodrive Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello – 3rd in GTS class (with Rickard Rydell and Colin McRae).  Set new lap record.  Test and development driver for Aston Martin Racing.  McLaren F1 test driver 

2003    FIA GT Championship with Team Maranello Concessionaires; Sebring and Le Mans with Veloqx Prodrive Racing;  Miami ALMS with David Brabham in Prodrive Ferrari – 1st (GTS);  McLaren test driver

2002   7th – British ASCAR Championship with the HTML team with 6 race wins.  McLaren F1 test driver

2001   DTM Championship (German Touring Cars) with Team Rosberg/AMG
Mercedes.  McLaren F1 test driver

2000   DTM Championship (German Touring Cars) with Team Rosberg/AMG
Mercedes. McLaren F1 test driver

1999   Member of AMG Mercedes driver squad for Le Mans.  Official driver of McLaren's two-seater Grand Prix car programme. McLaren F1 test driver

1998   Formula Palmer Audi Championship - 2nd overall with three races wins.
Official driver of McLaren's two-seater Grand Prix car programme. McLaren F1 test driver

1997   British Formula 3 Championship with Portman Racing/TOMS GB. Test drives for McLaren, Jordan and Arrows F1 teams

1996   British Formula Renault Sport Championship with Redgrave Racing - 2nd with 2 race wins and 7 podium finishes.  Winner BRDC/McLaren/Autosport Young Driver of the Year Award

1995   British Formula Renault Sport Championship with Redgrave Racing - 4th with 1 race win and 6 podium finishes

1994   Formula Vauxhall Championship with Speedsport

1993   Formula First Winter Series Champion with Speedsport, with 3 races wins and 3 pole positions

1992   Jim Russell Racing Drivers' School including World Scholarship Final

The story so far…

Darren started racing in the amateur karting arena, making the move to single seaters in 1992 via the world-famous Jim Russell Racing Drivers' School.  Within five years he had landed his first drive in a Formula One Grand Prix car - a rapid ascent to stardom by any standards.

Back in 1992, however, Darren's first taste of F1 was in a very different capacity. He was working as a wind tunnel model maker at Jordan Grand Prix, living in a small B&B in Silverstone, and persuading his father to take him karting as often as possible. His work-mates at Jordan eventually clubbed together to send him on a week's course at the Jim Russell School and he did so well there, making it into the World Scholarship Final, that his future motorsport career was truly launched.

He ran his own Formula First privateer car in the 1993 National Championship, enjoying instant success in his debut year, winning three races on the way to the Winter Championship title. A move to British Formula Renault furthered his career significantly as his results over two years in this series not only netted him numerous more victories and podium finishes but also brought him to the attention of some important faces in the higher echelons of the industry. At the end of 1996 Darren was voted winner of the McLaren/Autosport Young Driver of the Year award for young and upcoming drivers.

A frustrating year in British Formula 3 nevertheless led to confirmation as official McLaren test driver, a position Turner held until last year. He was also an integral part of the high profile West McLaren Mercedes Adrenaline Programme which ran from 1998 to 2000 where he drove the innovative MP4-98T two-seater Grand Prix car at high profile venues across the world.

Darren's first foray into the world of international sportscar racing came with his inclusion in the AMG Mercedes driver squad for the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans. The link with the German marque was further extended when he was snapped up by Team Rosberg Mercedes to become a works driver for two seasons in the German Touring Car (DTM) Series.

In 2002 Darren returned to the UK to take part in a new series called ASCAR, the British version of NASCAR. Against stiff opposition he took six race wins although the idiosyncratic scoring system meant that he finished the Championship in only 7th place overall.

In 2003 Darren returned to the sportscar arena and entered the FIA GT Championship as part of the newly re-launched Team Maranello Concessionaires. He teamed up with Kelvin Burt and Anthony Davidson in a Veloqx Prodrive Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello GTS at Sebring and Le Mans – finishing 3rd in the USA and retiring in France when a wheel bearing failed and caused Davidson to have a sizeable accident. Darren also won the GTS Class at the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) race in Miami, when he shared a Prodrive Ferrari with David Brabham.

Although 2004 was not the busiest year for Turner in terms of races, he nevertheless turned a great many miles at circuits around the world.  As well as becoming chief test and development driver for Aston Martin Racing on their new DBR9 sportscar project, he also tested and raced a Prodrive-run Ferrari 550 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  Teamed with former World Rally Champion Colin McRae and former British Touring Car Champion Rickard Rydell, the trio came through an eventful race to take a well-earned podium place in the GTS class.

As the only Briton driving for the British Aston Martin Racing team, a class win at the 2005 Sebring 12 Hours was a dream start to the season.  As well as continuing with the DBR9's test and development programme, notching up more than 10,000 miles over the course of the year, Darren raced the GT1 car on a further seven occasions and won again at the Nurburgring 1000kms round of the Le Mans Endurance Series in a privately-owned, Cirtek-run entry. 

In addition to his racing activities, Darren attained a long held ambition and gained his fixed-wing private pilot's licence. He also enjoys football (he plays five-a-side every Tuesday night) and playing golf. "I like all sports with a ball, I'm just not very good at them," he says modestly. "I'm probably the hardest working player on the football pitch because I'm a lot fitter than the guys I play with and I'm able to run around non-stop, but I'm not exactly David Beckham when it comes to skill with the ball. I'm normally the one who has to run and get it when I've kicked it over the fence!"

In 2006, Darren made his debut in the British Touring Car Championship and immediately showed his potential with 3rd in his very first race in a front-wheel drive car.  He was originally scheduled to contest four out of the 10 BTCC race weekends, but ended up doing five when SEAT Sport UK ran all three of its drivers (Jason Plato, James Thompson and Darren) on the final race weekend.  Despite dipping in and out of the BTCC in 2006, Darren scored 41 points in his eight race finishes and, more importantly, helped SEAT win the BTCC Manufacturers' title for the first time. 

Darren also contested the American Le Mans Series season (minus Mosport which clashed with the BTCC) with Aston Martin, scoring 2 wins and 6 podiums in a DBR9.  The highlight was winning Petit Le Mans with Tomas Enge - in just a two-driver team, where most teams had three drivers.

In 2007, Darren's main focus was SEAT Sport UK and the BTCC where he claimed three victories, finishing 6th in the Drivers' Championship and helped SEAT capture the Teams' Championship. He very successfully teamed with David Brabham and Rickard Rydell in a Works DBR9 as part of Aston Martin Racing's GT1 attack on the 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning the class against some very strong opposition. He also took part in other a number of other sportscar races in the USA and Europe, as and when his schedule allowed, and won (with Tomas Enge) the GT2 class of the American Le Mans Series Utah Grand Prix in his first race in a Ferrari 430 GT.

This year sees a consolidation of the past twelve months, with concentration on the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship and a foray into international GT sportscar racing when and where his schedule allows.