Colin Turkington aims to box clever on race day

Championship contender Colin Turkington says he will need to race cleverly at Silverstone today, as he battles his lack of straight-line speed as well as his rivals.

The West Surrey Racing man dragged a fantastic lap out of his BMW 125i in qualifying, to line up fourth on the grid for the first of the three races.

And the 2009 champion is anticipating a busy day looking in his mirrors as he looks to close the gap to series leader Andrew Jordan.

“It is pretty evident straight-line speed isn’t our strength – it hasn’t been all year. We just maximised where we were strong, on the areas where we know the car is good,” said Turkington to TouringCarTimes.

“The race is not going to be easy. It could become very defensive for us. But at least I have given myself the best possible chance.

“We look not too bad in sector two, through Brooklands and Luffield. The good thing is we don’t have to change the car too much for the race. That is as much as we have got.

“It is going to be very difficult to match the pace of the MGs and the Toyotas.

“The Hondas are my direct competition. If I can steal a few points back that is what I am going to do. I need to be clever and ultimately reduce the points gap to Andrew.”