Colin Turkington leads list of post-race penalties for “amateurish” move according to Collard
Colin Turkington is one of seven drivers who received penalties by the stewards after the most recent race weekend in the British Touring Car Championship at Knockhill, with the Team BMR Subaru driver slated by former team-mate Rob Collard for an “amateurish” move early in Race 3.
Turkington and West Surrey Racing BMW driver Collard came together at Clark’s curve whilst battling for second position behind race leader Mat Jackson on lap nine.
“I’m very disappointed with the driving standards today,” said Collard to TouringCarTimes. “In Race 1 they were appalling and then what Colin Turkington did to me in Race 3 was just amateurish. It was a move that was just never on…you shouldn’t be doing stupid stunts like that, especially not that early in the race, it’s just pathetic.
“I was sitting there, we were quicker than Mat, and at that point of the race you don’t want to do anything stupid. Mat controlled that race from start to finish, and Jack and Plato and Neal and Shedden they all drove a lovely nice decent race, why couldn’t Colin do that? He drove me off the track in Race 2 at the hairpin, he drove Sam and Jack off as well as the hairpin, the guy’s just desperate.
The stewards gave Turkington his first penalty of the season, giving the Northern Irishman two points and reprimand for the incident, though the two-time champion believes his rival was to blame.
“I went for the move and committed to the pass, and Rob at that point closed the door and we made contact which got both of us in trouble,” said Turkington to TouringCarTimes. “It’s one of those things, he apportions blame at my door, I think he could have given me more room, so we’re not going to agree on that.
“(But the stewards) laid the blame at my door so I’ve got to take it on the chin.”
Other drivers to be penalised include Team Hard’s Michael Caine after he hit Speedworks’ Matt Simpson in Race 1, for which he received a reprimand and two points on his licence. Caine then sat out the rest of the weekend after having disturbed a previous back injury.
Matt Neal was given a verbal warning for contact with Adam Morgan’s Mercedes in Race 1 as was Dan Welch for a incident with Team BMR Subaru’s Warren Scott.
In Race 2, Eurotech’s Jeff Smith was given a verbal warning for contact with Team Hard’s Michael Epps, Team Hard’s Jake Hill was also given a warning for an incident with Tom Ingram and James Cole, while Turkington was the only driver to be punished for an incident in Race 3.
Team BMR’s Warren Scott found himself in the gravel on multiple occasions, most notably in Race 1 when he was speared off the track by Dan Welch’s Proton Gen-2.
“I’ve been knocked off the track five times in three races which is not very good,” said Scott to TouringCarTimes. “It’s been unfortunate, we’re slightly down on straight-line speed which hampers us when we try and have a race with people as we can’t get away.
“I was knocked off the circuit twice in Race 1, twice in Race 2 and then Martin Depper hit me in Race 3, and it becomes hard going when I never hit a car.”
Welch accepted the blame for the crash, in a race where after the dramas of Snetterton, the team are leaving the circuit with a fully intact car.
“Essentially it was a racing incident, but (the stewards) said I was the car behind and that I made contact with him so I’ve got to take a slapped wrist,” said Welch. “But if I’d have committed to the move and Scott turned in they’d have called it a racing incident, but by trying to back out of it I made it look worse than it should have been.”
