Colin Turkington is targeting a better first race performance in this weekend’s British Touring Car Championship races at Rockingham, as the BMW driver seeks to restore his championship lead.
The Northern Irishman lost the points lead last time out at Snetterton and was particularly hit hard in races one and two, with a poor first qualifying result yielding just 15th in race one and then a retirement from damage incurred in the mid-pack in race two.
As a result, Turkington is keen to perform stronger this weekend, having shed 9 kg of weight in his BMW 125i M Sport heading into qualifying.
“Last year we defied the odds here by qualifying P5 with the full 75 kg of success ballast and went on to score a trio of top six finishes,” said Turkington. “The script changes all the time in the BTCC but if we can be closer to the sharp end in race one than Snetterton, then that’s a good place to start.
“I’m honing every detail that I can do to improve, and what we as a team can do to find gains for the weekend.”
Turkington insists he is not fazed by having lost the points lead to Tom Ingram, instead electing to focus on his own campaign and racing.
“Now is not the time to become distracted by the competition. It’s time to look inward, look forward and look positive about what we can achieve. We need to find a step [forward] in pace if we are to stay ahead.
“We have races nearly every two weeks now and the momentum is building. I’m hopeful that my difficulties are behind me and we can push on to the end.
“It’s not going to be an easy ride, but I’m fired up and ready to fight.”