Colin Turkington sees title hopes take a hit

Colin Turkington saw his hopes of a record-breaking fifth BTCC title take a major hit after his recent run of good form came to an abrupt end at Knockhill.

The WSR driver went into the weekend on the back of victories at both Oulton Park and Croft to sit third in the championship standings, but would end up scoring just five points in the three races to slip to fourth in the title race.

Turkington had qualified eighth on the grid for race one but being forced to stack up behind team-mate Adam Morgan when the pair pitted for wet tyres in race one meant he had to settle for eleventh place.

That would be as good as it got for the Northern Irishman, with race two ending in a DNF after a clash with Dan Cammish’s Ford and the challenging conditions in race three meaning Turkington would only manage 17th spot.

As a result, he now sits more than 80 points down on Ash Sutton with three rounds left to run.

“I can’t even begin to express how disappointed I am with race day, and it feels like a bad dream,” he said. “Qualifying was tricky but we had great potential from our fourth row start for race one.

“Unfortunately, from the pitstop for wets, my day soon evolved into a nightmare as I exited the pits over a lap behind the pack.

“I was hopeful we could carve our way back through the field throughout the day and recover, points-wise, but contact from others soon ended my chances of turning things around.

“Knockhill delivered a blockbuster of entertainment with unpredictable weather and drama, but unfortunately it wasn’t any fun from my seat. Taking a blow like this is never easy, but we’ll regroup and ensure we come back fighting at Donington.”