Colin Turkington: “We did the best job possible”

Colin Turkington insisted he had done the best job possible after qualifying in ninth spot for the latest rounds of the BTCC season at Thruxton.

The WSR driver had brought himself back into contention at the head of the standings with a strong weekend at Knockhill, but the additional ballast for sitting third in the championship race would then hamper his chances as the series returned to Hampshire.

Having lapped 20th quickest in the second free practice session of the weekend, the Northern Irishman was able to move up the order in qualifying to secure a best time four-tenths of a second away from pole – earning him a spot on the fifth row of the grid.

“Realistically being inside the top ten was what I was capable of and what I was shooting for today,” he said. “With 57kg success ballast you always feel slow and like there’s more left on the table, but honestly I believe we did the best job possible and got the most out of the BMW.

“It takes quite a lot to pin down the set-up at Thruxton, which is a mixture being on the hard tyre and the amount of weight we’re carrying – it’s quite a narrow set-up window – plus you only really get one lap on each set of tyres in qualifying.

“The car’s been pretty sensitive to changes today but that’s the same for everyone, I think. The important thing is I’m where I need to be and I’ll be aiming for the top 10 in Race 1 tomorrow and then trying to go forwards with less weight.”