Colin Turkington ‘on the whole pleased’ with Thruxton races

Colin Turkington says he was pleased with his points haul from Thruxton’s three British Touring Car Championship races, culminating in the Team BMW driver finishing on the podium in the final race.

Having qualified in ninth on Saturday, Turkington lost three places on the opening lap of race one when Tom Ingram muscled his way past, and the Northern Irishman never made up the lost ground over the rest of the race distance.

Consequently, free of success ballast for race two, Turkington made up more places than any other drive to end the race in sixth after a determined drive, although with title rival Ash Sutton winning the race he lost further ground in the championship battle.

Drawn to start race three from third on the grid, Turkington jumped into second at the start and applied race-long pressure to the Ciceley Motorsport-run BMW of Adam Morgan, but to no avail.

Towards the end of the race it looked as if Turkington may have had a chance for the lead when Morgan locked his brakes and cut the chicane, but it took a further two laps to get back onto the rear bumper of Morgan, and he was unable to force a move.

“I had a big smile because I’ve been there before,” smiled Turkington, referring to Morgan’s lock-up. “Thruxton is a challenging circuit and for somebody making the switch from front-wheel drive to rear-wheel drive braking is one of those challenges.

“I could see Adam had a massive lock up and when I came through the chicane, he was gone up the road – he was about two-and-a-half seconds up the road!

“He drove a really good race; I didn’t really have an answer. I could get within a car length at any stage around the circuit, but with the high-speed nature of Thruxton, especially through Church, the understeer just ramps up when you’re very close behind somebody, so then they get away on you again.”

Despite missing out on the win, Turkington was pleased with his day, which sees him leave Thruxton 41 points from the championship lead, having lost just seven points to Sutton in the title race.

“I’m pleased on the whole with my day – it’s been a steady day of improvement. Twelfth, sixth and then second so it’s been a good points scoring exercise and it’s nice to get the BMW on the podium.

“Obviously, Ash is consistently scoring big points and I needed to not let him get any further ahead. But it is what it is – you can’t pull a rabbit out of the hat.

“You’ve just got to keep working hard and improve the car and work your way forward, which I did today.

“We go to some great circuits next – Croft and Silverstone, my ‘home’ circuit, so there’s lots to look forward to.”