Colin Turkington: “I’m really satisfied with qualifying”

Championship leader Colin Turkington said he “nailed” his best lap in qualifying at Brands Hatch and was satisfied with his day’s work, which will see him line up 17th and two places ahead of title rival Tom Ingram on the race one grid tomorrow.

The West Surrey Racing man said his grid slot and the 0.627s gap to pole was simply a reflection of the full success ballast he is carrying, and he was confident of making forward progress on race day.

With the extra 75kg of weight, the two-time champion didn’t make the top 10 in any session but said his pace relative to the ballast-free cars was strong.

“I’m really satisfied with qualifying. The car is the best it’s been all day – we improved quite a bit from FP2. I’m satisfied we got the setup right and I nailed the lap,” said Turkington to TouringCarTimes.

“Unfortunately, the weight does its job really well and that’s the reality of the situation. When you look where the other guys with weight are, we’re right there.

“We’re not far away on pace and we did the job today. Yes, P17 doesn’t sound great, but you’ve got what you’ve got and your expectations need to be realistic.”

Looking ahead to Sunday, Turkington said a well-balanced car left him confident of making up positions in the races and he wouldn’t be thinking too much about his title rival.

He said: “I’m going to try and go forward as I always do – move forward through the pack, score points and extend my points lead. The car feels racy and I am confident with it, which means a lot. I think we’ve got a good race car.

“It’s so hard to know [what Ingram’s pace will be]. I don’t think anyone knows the race pace because you’re focusing on short runs to assess the balance for qualifying. I’ve got to not think too much about him.

“I’ve got a very well-balanced car with weight and I can rest well tonight knowing I’ve done a good job today.”