Colin Turkington: “This is the most special title”

Newly-crowned three-time BTCC champion Colin Turkington said the toughest year of his life off the circuit has made his third title the sweetest of all.

An emotional Turkington secured the crown in the second race of the day despite only finishing 22nd after an off-track excursion, with his metronomic consistency and speed across the season the key factor in his success.

It capped a hugely successful year for the West Surrey Racing squad, who retained the teams’ title, with BMW also securing the manufacturers’ crown ahead of Honda.

The Northern Irishman said his mental strength was hugely important in joining the likes of Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal on three titles.

“I kept telling myself in my head that I would do it. Even when the chips are down, you’ve got to keep believing. It’s never easy for anyone to win this championship so I am just so satisfied for my team, for BMW and my family,” said Turkington.

“It has been the most challenging year of my life off the circuit and the BTCC was the one thing that kept us happy. Coming over here, getting results and building a championship was a ray of light for us.

“At the same time, I’m just so relieved it’s all over. It’s been mental torture over the last few weeks. My goal as a kid was just to win it once. I know Andy Rouse has won four but I am just so happy to have won three.”

Asked if he could have envisaged how race day panned out, Turkington said: “Never. I was focused on race one and I knew I could get a good start to the day on the soft tyre. It was always going to be difficult in race two in the middle of the pack with lots of soft tyre runners.

“Going through the gravel in race two, I thought I would have a lot of work to do and I was so shocked when they told me I’d done enough.

“It is such a precious thing to win that until now, when you know it is definitely yours, it is hard for your mind to believe that it’s all over.”

Turkington said the title was the most special of his three, following the death of his mum Mavis before the Oulton Park weekend.

He said: “You need something that consumes your mind and is a distraction, and the racing was such a good distraction. I could train hard and get my emotion out in the racing. That was so important to me.

“It is the most special for all those reasons, especially in the year that my mum wasn’t here.”