Photo: PSP Images

Second row “exceeds expectations” for Colin Turkington

By

Colin Turkington admitted he was surprised to put his BMW on the second row of the grid after securing in a solid third place for the BTCC season opener at Brands Hatch.

Turkington was the best placed rear-wheel drive racer during the session in his West Surrey Racing-run car having earlier endured a troubling run in second practice, when an electrical issue meant he spent half of the session in the pits.

Rebounding in style, Turkington was able to lap just a tenth of a second off the time set by pole man Jack Goff despite revised regulations for the new season that mean the BMW, as well as the Subaru Levorg, are now running 30kg heavier than the front-wheel drive cars on track.

“We’re very pleased with today’s final results – third on the grid is more than I thought we were capable of,” he said. “We’ve had a difficult day through free practice, trying to tune the car to the track conditions, but so many people along the pitlane were in the same boat. The track just feels different. There isn’t as much grip as normal or it’s certainly not the same as it was when we tested here a few weeks ago.

“Track time is so important, and to sacrifice half of FP2 puts you on the back foot, so I was pleased to have had an early clear lap in qualifying and set a good time. Once again, the team has got the car on the money when it counts and it’s been another good day for Team BMW.

“If you get yourself up on the first couple of rows you’ve done a good job in this field.”

Team-mate Rob Collard however endured a more trying session as despite being less than four tenths of a second behind Turkington, he’ll line up down in 19th place on the grid for race one.

“We’ve made significant improvements in time and performance in the car, and while I’m only three tenths off my team-mate, he’s third on the grid and I’m 19th,” he said. “That shows the competitiveness of the BTCC. I’m disappointed to be 19th, but I do know that we have a good race car, so we have to put today behind us and focus on raceday tomorrow. It’s going to be a very busy Race One starting 19th and I have the current champion, Ash Sutton, across the grid from me. It’s not been a great day for me, but the BMWs do look strong, so I’ll take the positives, look at the data from both cars and see where we can find more time.”