Turkington on going front to rear

Colin Turkington believes getting to grips with his new rear-wheel drive BMW will not hinder his Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship title aspirations in 2007 – even though he’s only ever raced front-wheel-drive machinery.

Turkington has opted to stick with Team RAC which for this year has switched to BMW’s 320si E90 model – winner of last year’s World Touring Car title – to comply with the BTCC’s new FIA Super 2000 technical regulations.

The Northern Irishman, eventually third in last year’s championship after emerging as eventual winner Matt Neal’s biggest mid-season threat, believes the BMW will put him in an even stronger position to challenge for the Drivers’ crown.

Turkington told BTCC.net: “The last time I raced anything rear-wheel-drive was when I did karting! But I don’t see it as a problem – people with experience have told me that going from rear to front wheel drive is the much trickier of the two.

“As the BMW has proven in the WTCC, it is the best S2000 car in the business, plus it is a new car with plenty of scope for development from our end – last year we were running a five-year-old car that simply had no more development left in it and we were still able to get close to the title. The BMW therefore offers us a chance of being considerably stronger.”

Team RAC’s BMWs are not expected to test for the first time until late February at the earliest. Turkington therefore knows it will be vital for the WSR squad that is behind the Team RAC programme to put in the miles before the season begins at Brands Hatch on 1 April if it is to prevent SEAT – the only front-running team with a proven S2000 car, the Leon – from stealing an early advantage.

He added: “We’ll have about a month to get the car honed to our liking and it’s going to be an intensive month, that’s for sure. But knowing how this team works, having seen its work philosophy in 2006, I’m confident we will be in a position to live with the SEATs at Brands Hatch – I certainly won’t be going there with the frame of mind ‘oh, I’ll be happy being best of the rest because the SEATs are untouchable and we’ll eventually catch up to them’. No way. I want us to be in a proper fight with them at Brands.”

Turkington also believes that 2007 will present WSR with its best opportunity to win the BTCC title for the first time in its history – since entering the BTCC with Ford in 1996, Dick Bennetts’ squad has won plenty of races, particularly with Honda from 1999-2000 and MG from 2001-2006, but, despite coming close on occasion, the outright Drivers’ and Teams’ titles have eluded it.

Turkington said: “This could be WSR’s best opportunity yet to win the BTCC title. I’ve spent the winter training on an SAS course running up mountains in Wales and, although it almost killed me at the time, it’s left me feeling fitter physically and tougher mentally than ever before.

“Plus we’ve got the best S2000 car in the business, there’s continuity with myself and the team and I learnt just about as much in 2006 about what it needs to win a title than my previous four seasons put together. On paper, it should all work…”