TEAM BMW’s Colin Turkington struck a positive note following the opening weekend of the new Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) campaign.
The Portadown driver began his 20th season in the tin top series in strong fashion at an initially sodden Donington Park in Leicestershire on Sunday.
A winter’s worth of technical improvements to his 330e M Sport car by West Surrey Racing, coupled with some elbows out driving, banked a fifth-place finish in a delayed race one, fourth in a safety car interrupted race two, and second in the day-ending reversed grid sprint.
Despite being pipped to the win by Aidan Moffat, who was able to maintain a big enough gap in his Toyota Corolla GR Sport thanks to having a larger allocation of hybrid power, Turkington was still pleased with how he started his quest for a record-breaking fifth drivers’ title.
“It was a nice, consistent day with fourth, fifth and second,” reflected the 42-year-old who is fourth in the title race on 41 points.
“Without grabbing any headlines, I have scored a good lot of points.
“The highlight is obviously the second-place finish in Race Three. I had the BMW in the window where I needed it to attack and feel racey.
“I am leaving Donington a lot more confident than I was even after Race Two. I enjoyed that last race so much. It has been a strong day for Team BMW, so I am leaving quite happy.”
West Surrey Racing Team Principal Dick Bennetts shared Turkington’s positivity, adding: “Overall, it was a very good day for us at Donington.
“Three races, three podiums, nine finishes in total from the three cars to put BMW in the lead of the Manufacturers’ Championship. Now we’re looking forward to Brands Hatch. I am a lot happier than I was after qualifying.”
The BTCC resumes in two weeks’ time at Brands Hatch, with 2022 champion Tom Ingram the man everyone will be aiming to catch.
Two back-to-back victories at Donington Park, coupled to a fourth in race three, gives the Hyundai i30 Fastback N driver a provisional nine-point lead over NAPA Racing UK’s Ash Sutton (Ford Focus ST), with Jake Hill (BMW 330e M Sport) a further eight points adrift.
Andrew Watson ended his first weekend in Toyota Gazoo Racing colours eleventh in race one, and twelfth in races two and three, while Chris Smiley took two fourteenths and wrapped the day off with a DNF after a piece of debris from another car damaged the radiator on his Cupra Leon.