Defending champion Colin Turkington was “really happy” to “pull one out of the bag” in qualifying for the opening British Touring Car Championship race at Knockhill.
The current standings leader has enjoyed a consistent Saturday at the 1.27-mile Scottish circuit, placing seventh in the pair of practice sessions before securing third on the grid in qualifying for the opening contest.
With championship rival Ash Sutton scoring Infiniti’s maiden series pole position, Turkington was pleased to keep the 2017 champion in sight after telling ITV he “really attacked” the track with maximum ballast aboard his BMW.
“I’m really happy,” he said. “In Knockhill qualifying you always have to produce a really big lap – probably your biggest lap of the season – so I managed to do that and pulled one out of the bag!
“As a car and as a team we’ve steadily improved through the day and I had my best car in qualifying. There was many laps through turn one I was thinking ‘Where did the road go?!’
“I was so far up on two wheels, but you have to really attack this circuit and I think that’s why we all really love it.”
The four-time BTCC champion managed to set his fastest time on the middle run of the half-hour session, crossing the timing line just before a red flag was called due to an off for Matt Neal’s Honda Civic Type R.
With traffic and clear road such an issue on the short and narrow Knockhill circuit, Turkington was relieved to put himself in a strong position to continue his title challenge in the trio of contests tomorrow.
“That’s one of the biggest difficulties of Knockhill is just getting some clear space but also have yourself in a rhythm,” he explained.
“You really have to attack turn one and the chicanes, so you can’t have too many other people around you. You just need vision, you need a clear track and just to be able to go on the attack.
“Thankfully I had that in the middle run, I couldn’t get space on my final run but I had a good time in the bank so we’re well set up for tomorrow.”
The opening British Touring Car Championship encounter at Knockhill is scheduled to get underway tomorrow [30 August] at 11:10 BST.