Turkington stretches clear after ‘brilliant’ Croft

Team BMW’s Colin Turkington stretches clear in the British Touring Car Championship race after extending his points following a ‘brilliant’ weekend at Croft.

The reigning champion arrived into the fourth weekend of the year sharing the co-lead with AmD’s Rory, but Turkington pulled clear at the top of the table after scoring 41-points with fourth, second and sixth during the three Croft races.

“It’s been a brilliant weekend. You’re compromised coming in as championship leader. The focus then becomes on scoring good points. That’s what I was able to do,” said Turkington.

“P2, P4 and P6 is superb given how competitive the championship is. I’m really pleased. It’s better to be winning but it’s equally important to score good points.”

Having finished fourth in race one, Turkington went on the attack during the following race as the defending three-time champion set about hunting down his race leading team mate Andrew Jordan.

Jordan at one point enjoyed a plus five-second gap in the lead of the race, but Turkington managed to close within just over a second of his West Surrey Racing team mate as the pair traded sector times for much of race two.

“The pace was really good. That was the first time we’d been able to take the weight out of the car and it just came alive,” Turkington continued.

“I got my head down to see if I could pull the gap but at the same time I wasn’t taking too many risks. I was reducing the gap without making myself too vulnerable.

“I could see I wasn’t going to be able to catch him quick enough. I kept trying because you never know what can happens towards the end.”

With Jordan now re-emerging as a strong title candidate following his fifth win of 2019 at Croft, Turkington believes that inter-team battle will only serve to benefit WSR as the pair push the new BMW 330i M Sport and each other to new levels.

“It’s been like this for the past couple of years since Andrew [Jordan] and I joined the team. We’ve pushed each other hard through the season,” said the defending champion.

“This year will be no different. I think it’s been one of the keys in the development of the car, we’re both able to wring the neck and push each other so that can only benefit the team as a whole.

“For sure, that’s what you want. You want to be outside of your comfort and having to push to the maximum. That’s how it is every year. You have to push yourself to levels past that would do normally.

“That’s part of the thrill of the chase. That’s what you get fun out of.”