Turkington braced for 'big fight' after Knockhill frustration

Team BMW's Colin Turkington remains positive despite seeing his British Touring Car Championship lead dramatically cut following a 'frustrating' race day for the defending champion at Knockhill.

Turkington finished a strong fourth in race one before suffering a disastrous second race after contact with AmD's Rory Butcher saw the reigning three-time champion finish down in 19th position.

The Team BMW driver at one stage saw his championship lead cut to just 4-points after his WSR team mate and chief title Andrew Jordan compounded Turkington's misery by taking a sixth win of the season in race two.

However, in a complete reversal of fortunes, Jordan was the one to hit trouble in race three, allowing Turkington to rebuild a 10-point lead with just Silverstone and Brands Hatch left on the calendar.

"My points margin is not as healthy as it was but the positives are that we’ve had a fast car this weekend," Turkington told Crash.net.

"Misfortune put me out of race two. I don’t know if misfortune is the word but it’s frustrating to be put out of the race, obviously that heavily compromises race two and race three.

"It’s par for the course at this stage of the season so you’ve just got to remain positive."

Having witnessed his closest title rival retire on the opening lap in race three, Turkington said his focus didn't alter from the task of sticking to his own recovery from 19th on the grid.

The BMW 330i M Sport driver went on to finish in 10th, meaning just 11-points separate Turkington, Jordan and Honda's Dan Cammish as the title race heads to Silverstone.

"Not relieved. You park that thought when you see someone else out of the race. You just try and crack on because I needed to make positions," Turkington continued.

"That’s how the championship ebbs and flows, it’s so hard to stay out of trouble. I was pushing hard [in race three]. I was using everything I had. I was pleased to recover some points.

"Dan [Cammish] is right in the mix he sort of always has been. He’s been right on Andy’s tail. It’s going to be a big fight from here to the end."