FOUR-time British Touring Car title winner Colin Turkington admits qualifying for the opening race of the new season at Donington Park National will be the litmus test for his heavily-revised BMW.
During the winter months, BMW UK has worked hand in glove with West Surrey Racing to improve the German machine’s performance, particularly its straight-line speed when running in the pack.
It clearly struggled in this situation last year and, in response, an all-new two-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine is being deployed for the 42-year-old’s 20th campaign in the series which once again features 10 triple headers.
Other revisions that have been made in an attempt to give Turkington the best possible chance of running wheel-to-wheel with the Ford Focus ST of defending champion Ash Sutton and the Hyundai i30 N Fastback of 2022 victor Tom Ingram are changes to the aerodynamics and cooling aids.
Other factors at play between now and October include double the amount of power from each car’s onboard hybrid system, and the availability of Goodyear’s option tyre at all rounds except Thruxton as the hard compound is the only one in operation across the weekend of June 8 and 9.
After Free Practice One (9.30am) and Two (12.35pm) at Donington tomorrow, the real action begins at 3.30pm when the new IndyCar-style qualifying goes live.
The six fastest cars that make it out of the initial three-stage qualifying sessions progress to a 10-minute shootout for pole position named ‘Quick Six’, and it is here Turkington will be aiming to bag a plum spot for Sunday’s first 18-lap sprint.
“I am looking forward to starting my twentieth season in the British Touring Car Championship and kicking things off afresh with the upgrades to our BMW,” said the Portadown man.
“We made good progress last week at our final three tests and I am much more comfortable with the car now.
“We have learned a lot in the past few weeks, but we won’t really know the fruits of our labour until qualifying on Saturday when everyone is showing their true pace,” he continued.
“A big thank you goes to all my team at West Surrey Racing for a huge effort lately – they have been putting in a hard graft on the cars, to have them all ready, after an already busy winter of upgrade work.
”Other drivers from the North vying for points and prizes in the 2024 British Touring Car Championship include Donaghmore’s Andrew Watson (Toyota Gazoo Racing UK) and Carrickfergus’ Chris Smiley (Restart Racing).
Unlike Turkington, they are both campaigning front-wheel-drive hatchbacks in the tin top series.