Colin Turkington was pleased to finish third during the opening British Touring Car Championship race of the weekend at Knockhill, with the Silverline Subaru BMR Racing driver crossing the line just over a second behind race winner and team-mate Jason Plato.
The result means the team celebrates a double podium finish just hours before they contest their 100th race in the championship when the lights go out for race two at 14:17.
The two-time champion engaged in a thrilling duel in the opening stages of the race with leading independent Andrew Jordan after starting fifth, dispensing with the Ford Focus despite falling behind in the early stages.
From there he latched onto the back of the leading quartet, passing Sam Tordoff and Tom Ingram en route to third place at the chequered flag despite a safety car for team-mate Warren Scott’s stricken Subaru Levorg GT in the closing stages.
With the Ulsterman arguably the star of BMR’s quartet of drivers so far this season, he once again displayed sublime racecraft to move himself into a strong position to claim a fourth victory in as many race meetings later this afternoon.
Speaking after the race concluded, Turkington was pleased with the result and said patience was the key to triumphing over Jordan.
“I really enjoyed that,” enthused Turkington.
“The car was obviously strong. I lost a positon to Andy (Jordan) on the inside of the hairpin early on. I got bunched up the inside and he outdragged me down the straight. It was just about being patient though.”
He also admitted he was confident the race would come to him in the closing stages, proven in his pace after breaking clear of his earlier battles.
“I knew the race would come to me and my pace was electric once I got past AJ. I’m really pleased for the team – another double podium, so it’s great.”
He will start race two on the second row alongside Tom Ingram, completing a top-three lockout for rear-wheel drive machinery.