The chance to keep up my flying form is too good to miss, believes Colin Turkington

Motorsport

Colin Turkington will aim to be on top form around Thruxton and continue to build positive momentum

Colin Turkington is intent on continuing his recent positive run of results and keeping tabs with the BTCC pacesetters

thumbnail: Colin Turkington will aim to be on top form around Thruxton and continue to build positive momentum
thumbnail: Colin Turkington is intent on continuing his recent positive run of results and keeping tabs with the BTCC pacesetters
Jason Craig

Thruxton is the first of two tracks the British Touring Car Championship will visit between now and the summer break in a fortnight’s time, and Colin Turkington feels wins and much-needed points finishes are ripe for the taking to give his push for a record fifth title continued momentum.

After three triple-headers at Donington Park, Brands Hatch Indy and Snetterton, the West Surrey Racing driver is provisionally sitting third-placed in the standings on 109 points – 19 behind the EXCELR8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 Fastback N of defending champion Tom Ingram, and a further seven adrift of the NAPA Racing UK Ford Focus ST of the three-time BTCC title winner and current pacesetter Ash Sutton.

At 2.4 miles long, Thruxton is known for being the paciest circuit on the Championship calendar – and one that traditionally suits front-wheel drive hatches. Despite this, Turkington is hoping that the settled forecast and warm track temperatures will aid his cause by heating the rear tyres on his German saloon more quickly.

Colin Turkington is intent on continuing his recent positive run of results and keeping tabs with the BTCC pacesetters

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The playing field should be levelled further given that Goodyear is only bringing its hard compound to handle the high loads placed on the tyres through the succession of long, fast corners for qualifying and each of the three 16-lap sprints.

“Brands Hatch and Snetterton were two good events that gave me a lot of points and a total of four podiums, so the aim is to keep that momentum going,” said Turkington, who has clinched victory four times around Thruxton and chalked up no fewer than 13 podiums, including a brace last season.

“Thruxton is a big challenge on both the driving and engineering side, but I am confident we can build on what we have learnt over the past few years, and there is no reason why we cannot get the BMW back on the podium. We always have to work a bit harder at Thruxton to score big points.

“The reversed-grid draw has been kind to me in the past, so the plan will be to aim as high as we possibly can, and if we come away with more top-threes – or a win – that would be a great result.”

West Surrey Racing Team Principal Dick Bennetts believes Turkington and team-mates Stephen Jelley, Jake Hill and Adam Morgan need to pull out all the stops in order to take the maximum spoils at what is the home circuit of BMW UK.

“Snetterton was a very good weekend points-wise for all four drivers and in both the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ Championships, so it will be important to use that to establish some momentum into the middle section of the season at tracks where we have generally done well,” Bennetts added.

Before the British Touring Car Championship’s five-week summer hiatus takes effect, there is a weekend’s racing at Oulton Park (June 17th-18th). The action then resumes at Croft on July 29th-30th.

BTCC Thruxton timetable: Saturday – Qualifying (3.25pm-3.55pm); Sunday – Race 1 (11.45am), Race 2 (2.35pm), Race 3 (5.20pm).