One of the world’s greatest motorsport competition managers, Stuart Turner, has passed away at the age of 92.
Turner began his motorsport career as a co-driver in club rallying before graduating to sitting alongside star drivers such as Erik Carlsson and Pat Moss.
He joined Motoring News as Sports Editor, but then moved to BMC as its Competitions Manager in 1961 and found his true calling.
Using his genius for detail and reading the rule book, Turner guided the Mini to three high profile wins in the Monte Carlo Rally, and a fourth even higher profile finish when the team’s win was denied due to partisan rule-bending to gift the win to a French team rather than the Mini.
In 1967, Turner joined Ford and helped mastermind the rally success of the Escort before he switched to working Ford’s press office with equal success.
However, the lure of competition remained strong and Turner was brought in by Ford to oversee its new Group B rally car programme in 1983 that resulted in the RS200. He was also responsible for turning the Ford Sierra Cosworth into a very able rally car.
Turner was also a prolific author, speaker, and he helped co-found the Motor Sport Safety Fund.
