Colin Turkington extends advantage on historic weekend

Colin Turkington will take an extended lead into the BTCC summer break after another strong weekend on track for West Surrey Racing at Oulton Park.

The defending champion secured the two wins needed to become only the fourth driver in series history to reach 50 victories having qualified on pole position in his BMW 330i M Sport and now sits 33 points clear of fellow BMW man Andrew Jordan.

It means Turkington holds the largest lead at the half way stage of the season since 2006, when Matt Neal went into the summer break 37 points clear of the Northern Irishman.

“I’m ultra happy with the weekend and it was beyond my expectations to get pole, never mind take two wins – and capping off 50 career victories makes it a special day,” he said. “Scoring pole certainly helped as it’s easier to run in clean air at the front but you never know how quick the others will be.

“Dan kept me honest in race one and there are no easy wins in this series – we are working hard for these wins and it isn’t as easy as people might think it is. Doubling up in race two was great and it was important to score points in race three; P9 is still a good finish in a competitive field as you have to be realistic in the pack with a heavy car and limit the risks.”

Turkington added that he was proud to have joined Jason Plato, Neal and Andy Rouse in reaching 50 wins and was quick to praise WSR for their part in his success.

“It wasn’t something I set as a target and it is great moment for me, but also for the people around me as I can only win because a team like WSR give me the car to win with,” he said. “It is me recording the numbers but I have a great team behind me and whilst 50 wins are next to my name, 41 of those are because of the team at West Surrey Racing.”