Photo: Wiechers Sport

Colin Turkington: “Tarquini pushed me off twice”

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Colin Turkington made a one-off return to WTCC at Donington Park for Wiechers-Sport. The BMW driver showed strong form in qualifying by taking fifth on the grid, but was off track in both races after contact with Gabriele Tarquini.
“I was pushed off in both races by Tarquini. I was dead last after that in the second race and had to fight back to tenth,” said Turkington to TouringCarTimes.

Turkington races for Flash Engineering in the STCC this year but made a last minute deal with Wiechers-Sport for the WTCC races at Donington.

“It wasn’t easy from the beginning with a new team and a new car. But everything was improving through the weekend. I was really happy with qualifying, fifth in both sessions and fastest BMW. Then we improved the car again in the morning warm up and the times were really good,” said Turkington.

Turkington was off the track in the first race at the Craner Curves after contact with SEAT driver Tarquini. The same thing happened again in the second race whilst fighting for a podium position, something Tarquini was reprimanded for by the stewards after the race.

“In race two I had a good start and was up to third. Then on the exit of the Melbourne Loop he [Tarquini] started to push my rear and just kept pushing to I went off. I was dead last then and had to fight back to tenth. It was a shame as I had a stronger pace then the drivers in front of me,” said Turkington.

The Northern Irishman races the older BMW 2.0 naturally aspirated engine in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, but found it easy to get used to the new turbo engine.

“It was different but not so difficult to get used to. The turbo engine has got quite a lot of torque and the power comes quickly. You have to be sensitive on the throttle not to power oversteer,” said Turkington.

Next up for Turkington in STCC at Karlskoga on the 13th of August. Turkington is currently sixth in the championship, right behind his team mate Jan “Flash” Nilsson, after a strong last race at Falkenberg with fourth and third.

“Falkenberg was really good, I enjoyed stepping up on to the podium with my team mate. I am looking forward to getting back there and we have a couple of interesting races ahead of us. We are aiming for the top at Karlskoga,” said Turkington.