BTCC

Colin Turkington: Subaru “Took A Step Forward” At Donington

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Colin Turkington admitted he was in the wars in the second Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship meeting of the season at Donington Park, but insists that Subaru will close the gap on their rivals very soon.

The 2009 and 2014 champion did once again earn the best result of the weekend for Team BMR, clinching the Japanese marque’s first top-10 finish in the innovative Levorg GT after qualifying a solid 11th in mixed conditions.

An incident with Alex Martin‘s Team Parker Racing Ford Focus ST at the chicane in race two dented his weekend however, Turkington still finding positives from another learning weekend.

Speaking to The Checkered Flag, Turkington commented: “A pretty difficult day. It was good to get a top-10 finish and a few more points, but we ran into a few issues.

“We got a puncture as a result of some debris and got caught in somebody else’s accident, but I was able to make a bit of progress in race three on the soft tyre. It was good to do another race distance and get a bit more information.

“We just need to work a little bit harder and then we’ll close the gap.”

Having completed an impressive grand total of 584 laps in the season opener at Brands Hatch, the Subaru Levorg endured its biggest reliability hiccup of its still-young tenure in BTCC last weekend, James Cole suffering a fiery exit in the opening race of the day.

Subaru2 (2)

Turkington’s issues were reduced to unfortunate on-track altercations meanwhile, the Northern Irishman impressed with the car’s reliability after two meetings nonetheless.

“The car hasn’t given me a pick of bother”, admitted the double champion. “It’s ran reliably, but where we were it’s very easy to get caught up in trouble when you’re in the middle of the pack. We’ve taken a step forward from Brands and learned quite a bit, so it can only get better.”

One of the steps Turkington intended to take was an improvement in the overall handling of the Levorg GT, something which affected the BMR quartet in their initial outings.

As set-ups continued to be tweaked, Turkington also praised the wet weather handling of the car, saying: “I was really pleased with the car in the wet. It was gripping well, which tells us that we’re not a million miles away with the chassis.

“We want a lot more than a top 10, but the result shows signs of progress. That’s also twice I’ve qualified just outside the top 10. I don’t think that’s really where we are on true pace, but certainly we’re targeting to be there more consistently.

“The car is reacting positively to changes. You can really feel what’s going on, so it’s the basis of something potentially really good. We’re dampening [handling issues] down, but it’s a development process for a development year.”

Subaru have already collected 13 points – 10 for Turkington – in the Drivers’ Championship after two meetings, sitting fourth in the Manufacturers’ standings.

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