Darren Turner (born 13 April 1974) is a British
racing driver
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...
and owner of Base Performance Simulators. He races for
Aston Martin Racing
Aston Martin Racing is a British auto racing team established in 2004 as a partnership between automobile manufacturer Aston Martin and engineering group Prodrive. The partnership was initially created for the purpose of returning Aston ...
as a
factory driver and also works as a high performance test driver for
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...
.
He was
McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year in 1996. He is a former test driver for the
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...
Formula One
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
team, but has raced primarily in
touring cars
Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race-prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States.
While the cars do not move a ...
and
sportscars since 2000. He spent 2 years in the
DTM for
Keke Rosberg
Keijo Erik "Keke" Rosberg (; born 6 December 1948) is a Finnish former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Rosberg won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Williams, and won five Grand ...
's
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...
-powered team, also winning several
ASCAR races. In 2006 he raced sportscars for
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...
, but also competed five rounds of the
British Touring Car Championship
The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...
for
SEAT
A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation.
Types of seat
The ...
, sharing their 2nd car with
James Thompson. In his first drive for the team he finished 3rd.
He remained with the team for
2007
2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year.
Events
January
* January 1
**Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
, now full-time team-mate to Plato. Luck was again against him at
Rockingham – after qualifying on pole the car had an electrical failure before race one. His first win came in race 11 at
Croftbr>
, 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
Prodrive is an England, English motorsport and advanced engineering group based in Banbury,
Oxfordshire.
History
Prodrive was founded in 1984 by Ian Parry and David Richards (motorsport executive), David Richards.
Prodrive sold its 51% s ...
Aston Martin Racing
Aston Martin Racing is a British auto racing team established in 2004 as a partnership between automobile manufacturer Aston Martin and engineering group Prodrive. The partnership was initially created for the purpose of returning Aston ...
alongside
David Brabham
David Philip Brabham (born 5 September 1965) is an Australian racing driver and one of the most successful and experienced specialists in sports car racing. He has won three international Sports Car series and is one of four Australians to have ...
and
Rickard Rydell. After a tense fight against the
Corvette Racing
Corvette Racing was an American auto racing team established in 1999 by General Motors and Pratt Miller for the purposes of competing in sports car racing internationally. Corvette Racing was originally the official racing program for General M ...
Corvette C6.R of
Johnny O'Connell,
Jan Magnussen
Jan Ellegaard Magnussen (born 4 July 1973) is a Danish professional racing driver and was a factory driver for General Motors until the end of the 2020 season. He has competed in Champ Car, Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), NASCAR, the FIA ...
and
Ron Fellows
Ronald Charles Fellows Order of Canada, CM (born September 28, 1959) is a Canadian retired auto racing driver.
Personal life
Fellows was born in Windsor, Ontario, on September 28, 1959. At age four, he became interested in auto racing with his ...
, 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 Riley may refer to:
Businesses
* Riley (brand), British sporting goods brand founded in 1878
* Riley Motor, British motorcar and bicycle manufacturera 1890–1969
* Riley Technologies, American auto racing constructor and team, founded by Bob ...
with
Niclas Jonsson and
Ricardo Zonta
Ricardo Luiz Zonta (; born March 23, 1976) is a Brazilian professional racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 10 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross for RCM Motorsport.
Early career
Born in ...
. At the
2008 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 76th Grand Prix of Endurance, taking place on 14–15 June 2008 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France, organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The test day was on June 1. The race was atten ...
Turner won the GT1 class (13th overall) driving an
Aston Martin DBR9 shared with
David Brabham
David Philip Brabham (born 5 September 1965) is an Australian racing driver and one of the most successful and experienced specialists in sports car racing. He has won three international Sports Car series and is one of four Australians to have ...
and Antonio García.
Turner also participated in the
Gold Coast 600
The Gold Coast 500 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Boost Mobile (Australia), Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars Championship, Supercars, held at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in Surfers Parad ...
race as part of the
2011 International V8 Supercars Championship
The 2011 International V8 Supercar Championship (often simplified to the 2011 V8 Supercars Championship) was an Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA sanctioned international motor racing series for V8 Supercars. It was the thirteent ...
. He entered the race as a replacement driver to
Dan Wheldon
Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship for Andretti Autosport, Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 Indianapol ...
, who was scheduled to drive in the race but was killed in a 15-car crash at the
IndyCar World Championship race at the
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas Motor Speedway (track complex formerly known as Las Vegas Speedway Park from 1993 to 1996, Las Vegas Speedway in 1992, Las Vegas International Speedway from 1990 to 1992, as the Las Vegas International Speedrome from 1972 to 1990) is a ...
, less than a week before the race.
In 2012, Turner competed in the
2012 FIA World Endurance Championship
The 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship was the inaugural running of the FIA World Endurance Championship, World Endurance Championship. It was co-organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ou ...
with
Aston Martin Racing
Aston Martin Racing is a British auto racing team established in 2004 as a partnership between automobile manufacturer Aston Martin and engineering group Prodrive. The partnership was initially created for the purpose of returning Aston ...
in the GTE-Pro class Aston Martin Vantage.
In the 80th edition of the
24 Hours of Le Mans in 2012, Turner and the Aston Martin Racing finished third place in the GTE-Pro class along with his co-drivers the German
Stefan Mücke and the
Mexican Adrián Fernández
Adrián Fernández Mier (born April 20, 1963) is a Mexican former professional race car driver and co-owner of the Fernandez Racing team.
Racing career
Early career
Fernández was born in Mexico City and began his career in Mexico at the age ...
, their
Aston Martin Vantage 4.5 L-V8 covered a total of 332 laps (2,811.65 miles), in the
Circuit de la Sarthe
The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 H ...
without failure or serious mechanical problems. Also the team achieved the
fastest lap
In motorsports, the fastest lap is the quickest lap run during a race. In some racing series, like NASCAR, the fastest lap award championship points for a driver or team. In Formula One and MotoGP no point is awarded for the fastest lap.
Formula O ...
of the category with 3 minutes and 54.928 seconds.
Turner continued to race for Aston Martin Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship until 2020, notching up numerous victories, the biggest of which was his third 24 Hours of Le Mans win, which came in 2017. He raced the #97 Aston Martin Vantage GTE to a class win in GTE Pro, alongside Jonny Adam and Daniel Serra. It was Turner who took the GTE pole position for the 2017 race with a time that broke the lap record.
Darren continues to race, competing in events including the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
As a high performance development driver for Aston Martin, Turner has worked on the development of cars including the Aston Martin Vulcan and the Aston Martin Valkyrie.
Turner is also a regular competitor at the Goodwood Revival and in 2018 he was named "Rolex Driver of the Meeting" in recognition of his performances at the event.
Racing record
Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
24 Hours of Le Mans results
Complete British Touring Car Championship results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded in first race) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races) (
* signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded all races)
Complete GT1 World Championship results
Complete V8 Supercar results
+ Not eligible for points.
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in
''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
* Season still in progress.
Complete European Le Mans Series results
Complete British GT Championship results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
† As Turner was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
Complete Super GT results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
References
External links
*
*
Profile at BTCCPages.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Darren
1974 births
Living people
English racing drivers
British Formula Renault 2.0 drivers
British Touring Car Championship drivers
FIA GT Championship drivers
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers
Auto GP drivers
British Formula Three Championship drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
Formula Palmer Audi drivers
24 Hours of Daytona drivers
American Le Mans Series drivers
European Le Mans Series drivers
FIA GT1 World Championship drivers
Supercars Championship drivers
FIA World Endurance Championship drivers
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers
24 Hours of Spa drivers
International GT Open drivers
ASCAR drivers
British GT Championship drivers
Team Rosberg drivers
Aston Martin Racing drivers
M2 Competition drivers
R-Motorsport drivers
Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers
Nismo drivers
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers
Strakka Racing drivers
TOM'S drivers
Cupra Racing drivers
Sportspeople from Camberley
Le Mans Cup drivers
GT World Challenge America drivers