Colin Turkington took a ‘crucial’ win in the third British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) race at Silverstone, with the Team BMR driver admitting that the championship points deficit still feels “a long way back”.
Speaking to TouringCars.Net after his fourth win of the season, Turkington admits it was a crucial score in order to keep him in the battle for the driver’s championship, where he is 32 points adrift of leader Gordon Shedden.
“It was crucial to take a big score there in race three,” he said. “It’s great to win, as we haven’t had it easy this weekend. We’ve been looking for pace and we’ve found it in race three. It’s really good to be able to convert it to keep myself well in the hunt.”
Turkington was the only Team BMR driver to score a podium result over the weekend, adding a win to his earlier fifth and eighth finishes in the first two races. The Northern Irishman admits he and his team expected to be stronger around the short Silverstone National circuit.
“This is somewhere we expected to be strong and the pack’s so tight now that if you’re struggling for balance you’re quickly outside the top ten,” he added. “Maybe we haven’t been as strong as we’d hoped but we’ve kept working hard and it has come good in the end. They’re not easy cars to find the sweet spot with, so at least we got there in the end.”
With 67 points still available from the final meeting at Brands Hatch in two weeks’ time, Turkington is feeling bullish about his chances of retaining his title. The double champion is familiar with the unpredictability of the season finale, having failed to finish in the points in the final two races of his title winning year in 2014.
“We’re 28 points adrift – it still feels a long way back but it’s never over at this game. The maximum score is still over 60 points available. Last year I went to Brands with a really healthy lead, but you never feel comfortable.
“We’re strong on the Indy track. There’s a good mix of quick corners there where we’re strong. It’s how well you get it dialled in on the day, but I can’t see why we won’t be strong.
“We’re still in the game, so I’ll go and give it my best shot.