Colin Turkington enjoyed another stellar weekend as the British Touring Car Championship action returned to Snetterton with the three-time Drivers’ champion extending his lead and claiming a fifth victory of the season in the process.
It was a perfect ten for Team BMW who also extended their lead in the constructors standings to stamp their authority as the dominant team in the championship head into the second run at Thruxton in a weeks’ time, a track where Andrew Jordan claimed two victories earlier in the season.
Turkington said that he knew the BMW 330i M Sport was switched on from turn one but the Portadown driver had to wait to pass Tom Ingram, but when the opportunity arose, he did so expertly. He gave credit to the team for producing the goods saying they’ve upped their game still for this year.
“That was the plan,” said Turkington. “I wasn’t particularly confident beforehand as in the BTCC you never know. You should be faster on the softs but you can never be sure.
“I knew it was switched on from turn one and I had to be patient to make the right move and get the traction on exit from the 3 Series BMW. I don’t think it’s any more than I did in 2014. The 1 Series was very strong back then too. The guys made a decision to up the game still for this year.”
The win went alongside a fourth place and a ninth meaning that Turkington had an extended lead over his team-mate Jordan and the chasing pack, which includes Rory Butcher and Josh Cook, and he wants to keep the momentum going into the next round.
“We wanted to be better and we built a faster car – we’re reaping the rewards,” said Turkington. “The points lead is slightly larger than it was before so we move on to Thruxton aiming to keep this momentum going.”
