COLIN Turkington hailed a “brilliant weekend” for him and Team BMW in the Kwi Fit British Touring Car Championship as he claimed a seventy first career victory to keep his title chase very much alive.
Fired up by the disappointment of Croft two weeks earlier in which his West Surrey Racing-run BMW 330e M Sport was punted off the track in the second and third races, the Portadown man set the tone for the weekend at rounds 19, 20 and 21 in Scotland by qualifying on pole for Sunday’s opening 24-lap sprint.
He stormed to a front row start for the thirtieth time in this his twentieth season in the UK tin top series, and it came via a lap time of 50.862 seconds – 0.035 seconds quicker than Aron Talyor-Smith’s ageing Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra.
On the optimum soft Goodyear tyre, the race one result was never in doubt as the 42-year-old pulled clear of the field to cross the line with eight seconds in hand over Josh Cook’s LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ Toyota Corolla GR Sport.
Another big points haul was achieved from P1 in race two around the 1.27-mile track outside Fife; this time, however, Turkington came home in third as Jake Hill (Laster Tools Racing with MB Motorsport) and Dan Rowbottom (NAPA Racing UK) were on the soft tyre.
They fully capitalised on this – and their larger reserve of hybrid allocation – to pass Turkington for a one-two finish, with Rowbottom’s pace ensuring he held on to second despite stewards serving him with a five-second penalty for a jump start offence.
In the day-ending reversed grid contest, Turkington was still satisfied to finish in the points in ninth as former World Touring Car Champion Rob Huff – team-mate to Donaghmore’s Andrew Watson – earned a second victory of the year from Tom Ingram aboard his Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota Corolla GR Sport.
“It has been a brilliant weekend for me and a great way to bounce back after the disappointment of Croft,” said Turkington, who has climbed to fifth in the standings on 224 points, fifty-four behind the Hyundai i30 Fastback N of leader Tom Ingram (Team Bristol Street Motors), fifty-one in arrears of Hill’s BMW, and thirty-four shy of the Ford Focus ST of four-time title holder, Ash Sutton (NAPA Racing UK).
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“Pole position, a win in race one, a podium in race two and to finish race three P9 in the points, I think we are in a really good place with the BMW and I am really excited about the remainder of the season.”
Victories for Turkington and Hill, and a third-place result for Adam Morgan, have also helped BMW’s cause in the Teams’ title battle, as the German manufacturer has trimmed Ford’s advantage to only seventeen points with three race weekends comprising nine sprints remaining. Hyundai is third on 495 points, meanwhile, and Toyota provisionally brings up the rear on 471 points.
