On July 1, 1933, he flew in the Bendix Trophy race from New York to Los Angeles, gaining first place, ahead of Jimmy Wedell in his Model 44 (NR278V, race number 44). Turner's time was 11:30 hours, that also broke his own east–west transcontinental airspeed record. Wedell went on to win the Thompson Trophy circuit race, despite finishing behind Turner, who was disqualified after a pylon rules infringement. In 1933 Turner upgraded his Model 44 again with a 1000 hp supercharged Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet engine, painted gold overall, and sponsored by Heinz and Macmillan Ring-Free Motor Oil. On September 2, 1933, he flew it from Los Angeles to New York in 10:04:30 hours, to break the west–east transcontinental airspeed record, to accompany his existing east to west record. At the National Air Races at Cleveland in September 1934, Turner entered his Wedell-Williams Model 44 (NR61Y, race number 57), but was a non-starter in the Bendix Trophy race due to a fuel leak. On September 2, 1934, he set off after the Bendix race anyway, to show that he could have won it, but encountered storms en route to the race's venue at Cleveland. After a delayed refueling, he flew on to New York to break Frank Hawks' west–east record with a time of 10:02:39 hours. He then returned to Cleveland, and won the Thompson Trophy after the Model 44 flown by Doug Davis crashed fatally while leading the race. In 1933, Turner learned of plans to organize what became known as the MacRobertson Air Race, to be run from London, England to Melbourne, Australia, in October 1934. He quickly obtained sponsorship from Pratt & Whitney in the form of engines and technical assistance, followed by Boeing. United Airlines then offered to lend him one of their latest airliners, a Boeing 247 (NR257Y). Other sponsors included Heinz, Macmillan Oil Company, and Warner Brothers. Turner selected Clyde Pangborn as his co-pilot, due to his experience with international flights. The third crew member was Reeder Nichols, a partner in Bill Lear's Lear Development Corp, whose job it was to operate the Lear radio and direction finder. After modification and testing of the Boeing 247, Turner flew it to New York and had it loaded onto a passenger liner bound for England. After diversions and delays, the aircraft was reassembled at Hamble, then flown via Heston Aerodrome and RAF Martlesham Heath finally to the race starting point at RAF Mildenhall.