| Darren Turner | |||||||||
| Nationality: |  British | ||||||||
| Birth Date: | 1974 4, df=yes | ||||||||
| Birth Place: | Camberley, Surrey, England, United Kingdom | ||||||||
| Racing Licence: | FIA Gold
| ||||||||
| Current Series: | FIA World Endurance Championship | ||||||||
| First Year: | 2012 | ||||||||
| Current Team: | Aston Martin Racing | ||||||||
| Car Number: | 98 | ||||||||
| Starts: | 59 | ||||||||
| Wins: | 8 | ||||||||
| Poles: | 11 | ||||||||
| Fastest Laps: | 2 | ||||||||
| Best Finish: | 3rd | ||||||||
| Year: | 2013 | ||||||||
| Prev Series: | Rolex Sports Car Series Formula Ford 1600 Le Mans Series BTCC American Le Mans Series FIA GT Championship ASCAR DTM Formula One testing Italian Formula 3000 Formula Palmer Audi British Formula 3 Formula One testing Formula Renault UK Formula Vauxhall Lotus FFirst Great Britain W. Series | ||||||||
| Prev Series Years: | 2008–09 2008 2007–09 2006–08 2003, 2005–08 2003, 2007–09 2002 2000–01 –01 1999 1998 1997 , 1995–96 1994 1993 | ||||||||
| Titles: | 24 Hours of Le Mans – GT1 24 Hours of Le Mans – LMGTE Pro FFirst Great Britain W. Series | ||||||||
| Title Years: | 2007, 2008 2017 1993 | ||||||||
| Awards: | McLaren Autosport Award | ||||||||
| Award Years: | 1996 | ||||||||
Darren Turner (born 13 April 1974) is a British racing driver and owner of Base Performance Simulators. He races for Aston Martin Racing as a factory driver and also works as a high performance test driver for Aston Martin.
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. In 2006 he raced sportscars for Aston Martin, but also competed five rounds of the British Touring Car Championship for SEAT, sharing their 2nd car with James Thompson. In his first drive for the team he finished 3rd.
He remained 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 failure before race one. His first win came in race 11 at Croft http://www.btccpages.com/rounds/2007/10_11_12/race2.php, 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. At the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans Turner won the GT1 class (13th overall) driving an Aston Martin DBR9 shared with David Brabham and Antonio García.
Turner also participated in the Gold Coast 600 race as part of the 2011 International V8 Supercars Championship. He entered the race as a replacement driver to Dan Wheldon, 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, less than a week before the race.
In 2012, Turner competed in the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship with Aston Martin Racing 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, their Aston Martin Vantage 4.5 L-V8 covered a total of 332 laps (2,811.65 miles), in the Circuit de la Sarthe without failure or serious mechanical problems. Also the team achieved the fastest lap of the category with 3 minutes and 54.928 seconds.[1] [2]
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.
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Team Rosberg | AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | OSC 1 | OSC 2 | NOR 1 | NOR 2 | SAC 1 | SAC 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | LAU 1 | LAU 2 | OSC 1 | OSC 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | 14th | 19 | |||
| 2001 | Team Rosberg | AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM | HOC QR | HOC CR | NÜR QR | NÜR CR | OSC QR | OSC CR | SAC QR | SAC CR | NOR QR | NOR CR | LAU QR | LAU CR | NÜR QR | NÜR CR | A1R QR | A1R CR | ZAN QR | ZAN CR | HOC QR | HOC CR | 15th | 15 | |
(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)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | Pos | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | SEAT Sport UK | SEAT León | BRH 1 | BRH 2 | BRH 3 | MON 1 | MON 2 | MON 3 | OUL 1 | OUL 2 | OUL 3 | THR 1 | THR 2 | THR 3 | CRO 1 | CRO 2 | CRO 3 | DON 1 | DON 2 | DON 3 | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | SNE 3 | KNO 1 | KNO 2 | KNO 3 | BRH 1 | BRH 2 | BRH 3 | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | SIL 3 | 14th | 41 | |
| 2007 | SEAT Sport UK | SEAT León | BRH 1 | BRH 2 | BRH 3 | ROC 1 | ROC 2 | ROC 3 | THR 1 | THR 2 | THR 3 | CRO 1 | CRO 2 | CRO 3 | OUL 1 | OUL 2 | OUL 3 | DON 1 | DON 2 | DON 3 | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | SNE 3 | BRH 1 | BRH 2 | BRH 3 | KNO 1 | KNO 2 | KNO 3 | THR 1 | THR 2 | THR 3 | 6th | 160 | |
| 2008 | SEAT Sport UK | SEAT León TDI | BRH 1 | BRH 2 | BRH 3 | ROC 1 | ROC 2 | ROC 3 | DON 1 | DON 2 | DON 3 | THR 1 | THR 2 | THR 3 | CRO 1 | CRO 2 | CRO 3 | SNE 1 | SNE 2 19* | SNE 3 | OUL 1 | OUL 2 | OUL 3 | KNO 1 | KNO 2 | KNO 3 | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | SIL 3 | BRH 1 | BRH 2 | BRH 3 | 8th | 133 | |
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Pos | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Young Driver AMR | Aston Martin DBR9 | ABU QR Ret | ABU CR 11 | SIL QR 4 | SIL CR EX | BRN QR 2 | BRN CR 2 | PRI QR 10 | PRI CR 16 | SPA QR 10 | SPA CR 6 | NÜR QR 1 | NÜR CR 1 | ALG QR 4 | ALG CR 10 | NAV QR Ret | NAV CR 4 | INT QR 2 | INT CR 10 | SAN QR 10 | SAN CR 15 | 4th | 104 | |
| 2011 | Young Driver AMR | Aston Martin DBR9 | ABU QR Ret | ABU CR 5 | ZOL QR Ret | ZOL CR 7 | ALG QR 4 | ALG CR 2 | SAC QR 3 | SAC CR 3 | SIL QR Ret | SIL CR Ret | NAV QR 6 | NAV CR Ret | PRI QR 3 | PRI CR 2 | ORD QR 7 | ORD CR 5 | BEI QR 2 | BEI CR 1 | SAN QR DNS | SAN CR DNS | 2nd | 120 | |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Class | Car | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Rank | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Aston Martin Racing | LMGTE Pro | Aston Martin Vantage GTE | Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 | SEB | SPA | LMS | SIL | SÃO | BHR | FUJ | SHA | 35th | 7 | ||
| 2013 | Aston Martin Racing | LMGTE Pro | Aston Martin Vantage GTE | Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 | SIL | SPA | LMS | SÃO | COA | FUJ | SHA | BHR | 3rd | 125.5 | ||
| 2014 | Aston Martin Racing | LMGTE Pro | Aston Martin Vantage GTE | Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 | SIL | SPA | LMS | COA | FUJ | SHA | BHR | SÃO | 5th | 102 | ||
| 2015 | Aston Martin Racing | LMGTE Pro | Aston Martin Vantage GTE | Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 | SIL | SPA | LMS | NÜR | COA | FUJ | SHA | BHR | 10th | 67 | ||
| 2016 | Aston Martin Racing | LMGTE Pro | Aston Martin Vantage GTE | Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 | SIL | SPA | LMS | NÜR | MEX | COA | FUJ | SHA | BHR | 6th | 115 | |
| 2017 | Aston Martin Racing | LMGTE Pro | Aston Martin Vantage GTE | Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 | SIL | SPA | LMS | NÜR | MEX | COA | FUJ | SHA | BHR | 7th | 101 | |
| 2018–19 | Aston Martin Racing | LMGTE Pro | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8 | SPA | LMS | SIL | FUJ | SHA | SEB | SPA | LMS | 18th | 25 | ||
| 2019–20 | Aston Martin Racing | LMGTE Am | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8 | SIL | FUJ | SHA | BHR | COA | SPA | LMS | BHR | 11th | 78.5 | ||
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Class | Make | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Points | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Aston Martin Racing | GTLM | Aston Martin Vantage GTE | Aston Martin 4.5 V8 | DAY | SEB | LBH | LGA | WGL | MOS | IMS | ELK | VIR | COA | PET | 40th | 24 | [5] | ||
| 2015 | Aston Martin Racing | GTLM | Aston Martin Vantage GTE | Aston Martin 4.5 V8 | DAY | SEB | LBH | LGA | WGL | MOS | ELK | VIR | COA | PET | 19th | 52 | [6] | |||
| 2020 | Heart of Racing Team | GTD | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 | Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8 | DAY | DAY | SEB | ELK | VIR | ATL | MDO | CLT | PET | LGA | SEB | 31st | 77 | [7] | ||
| 2021 | Heart of Racing Team | GTD | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 | Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8 | DAY | SEB | MDO | DET | WGL | WGL | LIM | ELK | LGA | LBH | VIR | PET | 49th | 285 | [8] | |
| 2022 | Heart of Racing Team | GTD | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 | Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8 | DAY | LBH | LGA | MDO | DET | WGL | MOS | LIM | ELK | VIR | PET | 59th | 230 | [9] | ||
| 2023 | Heart of Racing Team | GTD | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 | Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8 | DAY | SEB | LBH | LGA | WGL | MOS | LIM | VIR | IMS | PET | 44th | 375 | [10] | |||
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Rank | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Aston Martin Racing | LMGTE | Aston Martin Vantage GTE | Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 | SIL | IMO | RBR | LEC | SPA | EST | 1st | 98 | |
| 2017 | Beechdean AMR | LMGTE | Aston Martin Vantage GTE | Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 | SIL | MNZ | RBR | LEC | SPA | ALG | 5th | 75 | |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | DC | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Beechdean AMR | Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 | GT3 | OUL 1 | OUL 2 | ROC 1 | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | SIL 1 | SPA 1 | BRH 1 | DON 1 | 5th | 102.5 | |
| 2019 | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 | GT3 | OUL 1 | OUL 2 | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | SIL 1 | DON 1 | SPA 1 | BRH 1 | DON 1 | NC† | 0† | ||
| 2021 | Newbridge Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 | GT4 | BRH 1 | SIL 1 | DON 1 | SPA 1 | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | OUL 1 | OUL 2 | DON 1 | 4th | 106.5 | |
| 2022 | Newbridge Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 | GT4 | OUL 1 | OUL 2 | SIL 1 | DON 1 | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | SPA 1 | BRH 1 | DON 1 | 2nd | 163 | |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
