Colin Turkington ‘over the moon’ to qualify as best title contender

Colin Turkington was ‘over the moon’ to put his BMW in sixth on the grid for the opening British Touring Car Championship race at Donington Park, where he out-performed his title rivals.

Team BMW’s Turkington had been second quickest in Q1 but slipped to sixth in the top-ten shootout Q2 session, ultimately ending up three tenths from pole position.

The Northern Irishman was pleased with his qualifying effort, which saw him out-perform title rivals Ash Sutton, who was ninth, Tom Ingram, who was 12^th, and Jake Hill, who was 13^th.

“I’m over the moon with that,” said Turkington. “The car was mega in Q1, absolutely mega.

“We lost out with a little understeer in Q2 but we’re sure the grip levels on track had changed – feedback from the others confirm this. Honestly, I’m so happy with the car and my performance.

“Massive kudos to the team, we delivered a blinder with that result. Fastest of the contenders, we’ll take that as a good day at the office.”

Turkington had earlier been 17^th and 19^th quickest in the two free practice sessions, with his car performing faster in qualifying. As a result, the four-time champion is not planning to make any further changes for Sunday.

“When the car is feeling as good as it was out there in qualifying, there’s not much we’re prepared to change for tomorrow. Saying that, we’ll look long and hard at what worked and see what we can tinker at.

“I’m really looking forward to the races round here, especially when the BMW feels like it did today. There’s no reason why we can’t be challenging for podiums.

“Points make prizes tomorrow and I’m going for as big a score as I can get.”