About
ABOUT WSR
Passion, Power, Experience
West Surrey Racing (WSR) are one of the UK’s most celebrated race teams with more than 20 championship titles on a remarkable CV that features World Champions plus aces from Formula 1, IndyCar, the Le Mans 24 Hours and touring car racing.
Created by New Zealander Dick Bennetts in 1981 and now based in Sunbury-on-Thames on the outskirts of London, WSR are honoured to be the brains behind the ultra-successful Team BMW, the reigning BTCC Manufacturers’ champions, and Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport.
The team stunned the British Formula 3 Championship field in that debut 1981 season by winning their debut race from pole position at Silverstone in March and going on to take that year’s crown with Jonathan Palmer in a Ralt-Toyota.
Four more Drivers’ titles were achieved in the series inside the next decade with Ayrton Senna, Mauricio Gugelmin, Mika Hakkinen and Rubens Barrichello. Senna and Gugelmin also won the category’s most prestigious race, the Macau Grand Prix, with Jordi Gene claiming the International F3 League at Fuji, Japan, in 1991.
WSR bowed out of F3 at the end of 1995 as the most successful team in the history of the series, both in terms of race victories and titles; its prowess helping it to become Ford’s works team in the following year’s BTCC.
A breakthrough touring car win was achieved with Will Hoy at Silverstone in 1998 while F1 legend Nigel Mansell memorably led ‘the greatest touring car race of all time’ at Donington Park later that year in another of WSR’s Mondeos.
For 1999 WSR began a two-year association with Honda, winning first time out with James Thompson and closing with a double-victory for Tom Kristensen at Silverstone in what was the final BTCC event for ‘super touring’ machinery.
A new manufacturer programme began in the post-super-touring era with MG; Anthony Reid taking victory at only the third event for the ZS in 2001 and he, Warren Hughes and Colin Turkington all winning races.
Continuing as a non-factory team with the MG from 2004, the team were rewarded with Reid’s Independent Drivers’ title that year and race victories right up to the end of the ‘06 season with Turkington and Rob Collard.
A switch to BMW machinery in 2007 marked the start of the most successful chapter in WSR’s touring car history. Turkington became Independents’ champion in his first season with the German saloon and added an overall title in ’09 and a race win in the FIA World Touring Car Championship in Japan the following year.
Replacing the 320si model with the turbocharged 1 Series in 2013 paved the way for another overall title for Turkington the following season. Turkington also won the Independents’ title – the fifth for a WSR driver in 11 years – and helped the team add a fourth Independent teams’ crown.
The 2015 season brought race victories for WSR’s three drivers; Collard, Sam Tordoff and Andy Priaulx while Collard, Tordoff and Jack Goff combined to win the Constructors’ and Teams’ titles 12 months later.
In 2017, WSR were honoured to be chosen as BMW’s Manufacturer team in the BTCC as the German brand returned to the series in an official capacity following a 21-year absence.
A superb season netted eight victories for Turkington, Collard and Andrew Jordan, contributing to Teams’ and Manufacturers’ title successes while an incredible treble title followed in 2018 as Turkington secured the Drivers’ crown with Jordan and the Collards (Rob and son Ricky) ensuring the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ titles were also achieved.
Moving to the brand-new 330i M Sport in 2019, the team set their best-ever victory figures with 11 wins in a single season and a first one-two finish in the Drivers’ Championship for WSR competitors; Turkington winning a record-equalling fourth title with Jordan second.
Over the next two seasons Turkington and Tom Oliphant – who were joined by Stephen Jelley (a race winner in an earlier stint with WSR from 2008-09) – were race winners and continued an astonishing run of Manufacturers’ title successes.
It was in 2022, with the debut of the BMW 330e M Sport as the BTCC’s hybrid-era began, when the history books were truly re-written with a record-breaking seventh Manufacturers’ title in a row, plus race wins for Turkington, Jelley and newcomer Jake Hill to take the team’s wins total over the 100 mark.
For 2024 the target is to add to the team’s 16 BTCC crowns as well as winning a record-breaking 10th Manufacturers’ crown for BMW.
In total nine WSR drivers won an FIA World Championship while past and present racers have accounted for over 1500 Formula 1 starts, 18 Le Mans 24 Hours wins, two Indycar titles and 36 wins, an Indianapolis 500 victory and 221 BTCC successes.
WSR had the honour of running Team New Zealand in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in the 2005/06 season and were also the brain behind the USA and Singapore entries at various points.
Having also turned their hand to circuit design – the results including the spectacular Hampton Downs Circuit in New Zealand and the 2010 revamp of Silverstone’s GP layout, there is no end to the multi-talented skills on offer at WSR.
This is a team that will continue to fight at the front end for many years to come.
