Colin Turkington hails ‘incredible handling’ of BMW en route to Silverstone win

Reigning champion Colin Turkington was full of praise for the handling of his BMW 330i M Sport after securing victory in the second British Touring Car Championship race of the day at Silverstone.

Turkington, who narrowly missed out on the podium positions after applying race-long pressure to Rory Butcher’s Ford in the opening contest, was able to progress to the win and seize the championship lead in the process as his rivals suffered punctures and contact.

Despite initially losing out to erstwhile standings leader Ash Sutton at Copse, Turkington then gained two places as Sutton and Butcher collided at Becketts, before the BMW racer managed to pass race one winner Dan Cammish at the midway mark in the race.

A front-left puncture for Tom Ingram then left Turkington to inherit the lead, which he would not relinquish to the flag in a result he described as “extra special” to ITV post-race.

“All credit to my guys and Team BMW, I had a really fast car in that race,” said Turkington. “Once we took a bit of the weight out, the handling was incredible. I knew I had good pace but to be able to pick up on the other guys’ misfortunes, I’m just so excited to win today.

“I can’t remember winning at Silverstone. It’s become a bit of a ‘home Grand Prix’ for us. Since moving to the UK we’re quite close to here, so it’s an extra special feeling to win here at Silverstone.”

After a mechanical failure in the opening race at Thruxton promoted Sutton to the lead of the standings leaving Hampshire, Turkington was thankful to “make some ground back” in the championship after an eventful second encounter.

“Thruxton really didn’t go my way at all. I felt a bit of momentum swing to the favour of the other guys and I felt on the back foot the whole way through Thruxton and even free practice here at Silverstone. But we kept working hard, kept digging and the result has come to us. It felt like it was slipping away, and we’ve made some ground back.

“You see how quickly things can change. I’d been watching footage this morning from last year, the 2019 coverage, and saw that two cars had got front left punctures going through Brooklands so I was mindful of that and to try and stay away from it. It’s great to get my car home in one piece.”

The final British Touring Car Championship race of the day at Silverstone is scheduled to get underway at 17:24 BST.