BMW UK has belatedly confirmed that Turkington and Adam Morgan will continue alongside the Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport entry of Jake Hill in the WSR stable of 330e M Sport machinery, and has unveiled the livery of its cars.
The BMWs suffered last season with a lack of straight-line speed when running in the pack, leading attention over the winter to be focused under the bonnet as well as other upgrades.
“We’ve got a new BMW engine – the latest-model BMW road car engine,” WSR boss Dick Bennetts told Autosport of the new powerplant, which features improvements in sustainability and efficiency.
“On the bodywork we’ve done a facelift to the latest model of BMW, we’ve done chassis work, development dampers – a lot’s gone on under the skin of the car.”
Bennetts explained that the new motor is “an evolution” of the existing B48 powerplant used in recent seasons.
Whereas the old units were supplied from Austria, the latest have arrived from BMW’s Hams Hall plant in Warwickshire, and the team’s long-time engine-preparation wizards from Neil Brown Engineering “started work in September” on developing them.
The new engine was shaken down in two cars at the MIRA proving ground last week, before WSR begins testing with all four of its cars at Snetterton on Wednesday this week.
“Everything looks really positive,” Turkington told Autosport. “Having the new engine under the bonnet is probably what excites me the most.
Source: Autosport