Colin Turkington and his eBay Motors team head to Silverstone this weekend on the verge of British Touring Car Championship title success, with the WSR outfit in contention for all four of the championships they are eligible for.
Turkington sits pretty at the top of the driver’s championship on 366 points – 55 ahead of nearest rival Jason Plato. The Northern Irishman has won seven times in 2014 and could take his second BTCC title at the weekend.
Despite his obvious advantage at the top, Turkington does not believe he will be able to do enough to take the title at Silverstone this weekend.
“We think it is likely to go down to the wire at Brands Hatch for the final event but with the team doing such a fine job with the BMWs then anything is possible at Silverstone,” admitted Turkington. “I’m expecting a huge challenge from the chasing pack at Silverstone.
“If we can get the job done there then great, but realistically I am planning and prepared to do battle at both Silverstone and Brands Hatch. You can never take anything for granted and I can assure you that both the team and I remain fully focused and committed to the job in hand. We hope we can do it, we believe we can do it, now we’ve got to make it happen.”
WSR Team Principal Dick Bennetts feels that the characteristics of the Silverstone national circuit will play more to the strengths of their rivals than it will to the strengths of the rear-wheel drive BMW 1 Series the team campaigns.
“We believe the characteristics of Silverstone are likely to suit some of the other teams better than ourselves,” asserted Bennetts. “We’ll be doing all we can to try and win the title at the earliest opportunity of course but it’s important we don’t let it slip.
“As long as we keep collecting solid points then we’ll hope to be in a strong position for Brands Hatch but we’re well aware that nothing is certain in the BTCC.”
As well as Turkington, Rob Collard and Nick Foster know their importance in helping to deliver titles to the team in the final races of the season.
Collard, who has never finished higher than fifth in the championship, is eyeing his best-ever championship position in the BTCC in more than ten years of competing.
“We’re fifth overall at the moment and there’s still a chance of going one better,” admitted Collard. “It has been a good season for me personally and a great one for the team – now it’s important we win the titles we deserve at the end of it and that challenge starts with this crucial weekend at Silverstone.”
In addition to overall title honours with Turkington, eBay Motors lead the Teams’ classification by 108 points from Honda Yuasa Racing, the Independent Teams’ classification by 86 points from Pirtek Racing and the Independent Drivers’ classification by 76 points from Mat Jackson.