Colin Turkington is predicting that his BMW will have ‘strong pace over a race distance’ in this weekend’s British Touring Car Championship races at Thruxton, despite carrying 57 kg of success ballast.
Turkington currently sits second overall in the drivers’ championship standings, after securing his first win of the season in the last round at Donington Park.
The Northern Irishman has previousy tasted success at the Hampshire circuit in a 1-Series BMW, winning in 2014 on his second season back in the BTCC with WSR.
With three previous wins at the circuit in his touring car career, Turkington admits that he is a fan of the high-speed circuit.
“Thruxton’s the fastest circuit in the UK and always provides excellent racing,” said Turkington. “The high-speed, bumpy nature of the track makes it a unique challenge, but one I thoroughly enjoy.
“I have a pretty good record there, including three wins, and I think we’ll be fast again this time. We had a productive test at Thruxton recently and that has given us good direction for this weekend.
“Getting the suspension and tyre set-up right is crucial, as you need to be fast at the end of the race. With 57kg of ballast on board, qualifying and the first race will be a challenge, but the BMW is strong over a race distance, so I’m sure we can get some big points and more trophies.”
WSR Team Principal Dick Bennetts once again expects the circuit to favour the front-wheel drive cars, but remains optimistic that BMW can continue to buck the trend at their less-favoured venues.
“Team BMW have had a very good start to the season with a win and four podiums and this is exactly the kind of form we’re hoping to repeat at Thruxton,” added the New Zealander. “Much like Donington, Thruxton generally suits front-wheel-drive cars best in a one-lap situation, but our rear-wheel-drive BMWs are gentle on tyres so we should have a strong package in race conditions.
“The BTCC use a special tyre for Thruxton, designed to cope with the unique challenges of the high-speed right-handers and for this year it’s a new specification, with which we had a positive test here a few weeks ago.”