Colin Turkington admitted the damp weather conditions during the first British Touring Car Championship practice session of the weekend at Brands Hatch prevented him and Silverline Subaru BMR Racing from chasing an optimum setup for raceday tomorrow.
With changeable conditions today contrasting with a dry forecast for the 2.43 mile Grand Prix circuit during tomorrow’s title showdown, the session effectively became a write-off for the record eight title contenders, of which Turkington arrives as the leading Subaru, ranked 7th.
The forty minute session was eventually topped by MG’s Josh Cook after a late surge for many gave the top ten a distinctly unfamiliar feel in places.
Despite the delay in being able to work on the car’s setup for the weekend, Turkington admitted it was worth getting in some more wet weather running with the Levorg GT in it’s fledgling year.
“It doesn’t make it easy for what’s looking like a dry race one tomorrow, but it’s good to get the eye in with a bit of wet running,” commented Turkington.
He also admitted that, whilst to an extent the engineering expertise at Team BMR allows them to arrive at each circuit with an idea of which direction to take the setup in, there is always an element of unpredictability regardless of the level of preparation.
“We understand the Subaru now so we can put something on the car that shouldn’t be too far away, but you’re going in a bit blind to some extent. We’ll just do our best. You have to focus on yourself and attack every session one at a time.”
He also underlined his satisfaction at arriving at the season finale with a chance at the championship crown for a fourth consecutive year since his return to the series in 2013.
“I’m pleased to be here in with a shout. I’m 37 points back and it is a tall order to close that gap, but it’s the usual game plan of working hard to jump up the leaderboard.”
The second practice session gets underway at 12:45, ahead of the final qualifying of the campaign at 15:40.