Colin Turkington: “I think there was more time in it”

Colin Turkington insisted he was happy to take third on the grid for the latest rounds of the BTCC season at Croft, despite there being “more time in there” in qualifying.

Despite the additional weight in his car thanks to his second place in the championship standings, Turkington set the pace in both free practice sessions at a circuit where he taken no fewer than twelve wins in the past, and headed into qualifying very much as the man to beat.

The arrival of rain during the preceding session would provide drivers with the additional challenge of a wet circuit, with Turkington ultimately ending up with the fifth best time when the chequered flag dropped.

Moving up to third thanks to penalties elsewhere, the WSR driver will now hope to add to his win tally in Sunday’s three races and said he felt well placed to try and close the gap to current points leader Ash Sutton.

“I’m really happy with that result,” he said. “Obviously, the conditions flipped from free practice when we had the dominant package – so hopefully we have that to look forward to tomorrow. We also had a very fast car in the wet so to be third is great.

“The session was really all about timing and getting your lap in when it was properly wet. I would have loved another bite at it, because I think there was more time in there, but then with the couple of red flags the track just dropped off towards the end. All things said it’s put me in an excellent position for tomorrow.”

With team-mate Tom Oliphant alongside on row two, team boss Dick Bennetts was pleased with how Saturday as a whole had panned out for the BMW squad.

“We had good pace in the dry practice sessions this morning and that should bode well for tomorrow,” he said. “We’re okay in the wet too, but the damp plays havoc with the rear-wheel drive, so to be third and fourth is very good. Looking at the championship, we have the right people behind us on the grid. We should have a car that can race at the front and Croft has been pretty kind to us over the years so hopefully that will continue.”