Colin Turkington heads to the Silverstone round of the British Touring Car Championship knowing that his previous experience of having lifted the title may give him the crucial edge he needs in order to close the gap to the top.
Turkington trails Subaru’s Ash Sutton by 12 points heading into the penultimate round of the season, with the Northern Irishman having fallen behind in the previous meeting at Rockingham.
But the two-time champion is unfazed by the recent development in the title race, knowing that his and the team’s previous experience of lifting the title may give him the edge on the BTCC youngster.
Crucially, Turkington took a trio of podium finishes on his way to the title in 2014, and he has a strong record of top five finishes at the Northamptonshire circuit despite his relative lack of wins there.
“We’re at the business end of the season now and I’m totally focused on achieving my goals,”said Turkington, who has won at Silverstone just once before, when he was in front-wheel drive machinery in 2015.
“We’re in a good position for all three titles and I’ll strive to deliver my best on every front. That’s where having an experienced team like WSR is really going to pay off.
“We’ve won titles together before and that knowledge and experience will help us tackle this weekend exactly as we need to.
“Silverstone’s layout promotes close lap times, so you really have to be at the top of your game and drive with absolute precision.
“I’ll aim to get as far up the grid as I can in qualifying and take it one race at a time after that.”
WSR Team Principal Dick Bennetts played down the team’s relative lack of wins at Silverstone (the team have won just six times in 21 years), believing that not focussing too much on the title will help them in the long run.
“The same points are available at every BTCC round, so it’s very important to treat Silverstone as just another race weekend and not think too much about the title battle,” added Bennetts. “That’s not an easy thing to do, but we’ve been winning titles for over 35 years and that experience will definitely help us this weekend.
“Silverstone’s National Circuit is simple in layout, so I’d expect the lap times to be extremely close. Colin and Rob [Collard] have strong podium records here, and with a lot of ballast on both cars, we have to focus on optimising every area.”