Colin Turkington was ‘filled with confidence’ after qualifying in 12th for the first British Touring Car Championship race at Rockingham, out-performing most of his title rivals, with the exception of team-mate Andrew Jordan, in the second-heaviest car on the grid.
Turkington went into the qualifying session with 66 kg of success ballast on board his BMW 125i M Sport, and he managed to improve on his qualifying effort last time out to put his car in 12th for race one on Sunday.
The Northern Irishman was especially buoyed by the fact that he was less than half a second from pole in a particularly competitive field on Saturday.
“This championship has become so close in performance that every tenth can make or break your weekend,” said Turkington. “One tenth down in that session would have put me back near P20, so in that respect I’m satisfied I got every last ounce of time out of the car.
“I’ve been by far the heaviest car arriving at the last three meetings and this is having a serious impact on our qualifying pace.
“It’s frustrating in one respect because it has such a negative effect on our balance, but it is also pleasing to see the job that we can still do in such a competitive field. Today we out qualified our rivals and that fills me with confidence.”
Turkington admits that his stance towards the lead has changed as he has become accustomed to carrying the most, having led the championship for seven races in a row before slipping to second after Snetterton.
“I’ve learnt to look at being a heavy weight as a privilege rather than a pressure. You have to get your head down, focus on your own performance and deliver your own best.
“The sixth row is not a bad place to start our day tomorrow and I’m confident the BMW will be a superior car on race pace than the front wheel drive cars.
“We’ll be keeping an eye on the weather forecast and working hard to improve the balance for another step forward.”