Colin Turkington insists ‘it’s by no means over’

A downbeat Colin Turkington has insisted that his chances of securing a record-breaking fifth British Touring Car Championship title are ‘by no means over’ despite a disastrous Silverstone weekend.

Having qualified in tenth with no hybrid, due to going into the event as the championship leader, on Saturday, Turkington’s opening race then proved to be a short affair.

Holding his position for the opening two laps, the Team BMW driver was spun out at Luffield by BTC Racing’s Josh Cook as the field bunched up into the sequence of corners.

Although the Northern Irishman was able to re-join, further contact on lap eight from Sam Osborne which knocked him into the Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai of Jack Butel resulted in two broken toe plates on his car, forcing Turkington to retire to the pits.

Forced to start from 27^th for race two, Turkington made his way up to 13^th – despite having no hybrid boost – to score a meagre three points as title rival Jake Hill pocketed 21.

The final race of the day again saw a hybrid failure for Turkington, and with progress being harder towards the front he gained just one place.

The results leave Turkington 27 points adrift – but still in contention – heading to the series finale at Brands Hatch in just under two weeks’ time.

“It’s difficult to put Silverstone into words, we just couldn’t get a break,” said Turkington. “The contact at the start of race one put me on the back foot, but then I had problem after problem which left me in a gun fight with a knife!

“When you’re missing that extra power at a track like Silverstone, there’s just nothing you can do. It’s impossible to make the kind of progress I needed to in races two and three.

“We kept believing all day that we could turn it around, which I’m certain we could have done if my car had been trouble free.

“It’s extremely frustrating for me and the team because there was nothing more we could have done. They gave me everything and we left with very little.

“I think we are still feeling numb at this stage, but we’ll lick our wounds, dust ourselves down and prepare for the finale.

“As we’ve just experienced, the impossible can happen and I’ll be going there with firm belief I have a chance.

“The team and I have worked too hard to give up on our chances and it’s by no means over.”