Colin Turkington happy with P4, while his old car is on pole

Defending champion Colin Turkington will start from fourth on the grid as he begins his title defence at Brands Hatch, while his replacement at West Surrey Racing, Andy Priaulx, starts from pole position in the BMW 125i that took him to the title last season.

“That did cross my mind when I was out on track, I knew that I was chasing my old car, but I’m really pleased, it’s a great start for us,” said Turkington to TouringCarTimes. “From where the Volkswagen was last year to be second, third and fourth shows the strength we’ve got…and for me personally, I’m really well positioned, it was a bit into the unknown for the first qualifying session with the VW, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.”

The 33-year-old was fastest in the second free practice session, but still doesn’t feel 100% in the front-wheel drive Volkswagen CC, with the team working to resolve the handling to suit the driving style of the 2009 and 2014 champion.

“We’re still working on trying to improve the car and get it more to my liking, we’re steadily getting there, so to be P4 with a tricky balance is a good thing,” he added.

Tomorrow, the BTCC employs a brand new qualifying format, with the grid for the second race no longer based on the race one result, but the fastest laps set during race one, which the reigning champion was mindful of.

“There’s strategy to be played there,” he said to TouringCarTImes. “That’s something we’re going to consider, as will everybody. It’s going to be a very hard thing to manage, to do a fast lap in the race and not be stuck up somebody’s bumper, but we’ve got to be conscious of it.”