Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship title hopeful Colin Turkington says he is fired up to claim “a big points score” at Knockhill this weekend for the series’ one and only visit north of the border.
Turkington returns to action in Scotland for qualifying this afternoon (3.20pm-4.15pm) pumped up by a sense of injustice following last month’s unfortunate set of circumstances at Croft circuit.
Although the incidents involving NAPA Racing’s Ash Sutton and Bristol Street Motors’ Tom Ingram ended up in the stewards’ room post-event, both of Turkington’s main rivals escaped reprimand.
In Race Two, Turkington was punted off the track by a late braking Sutton as they jostled for the podium positions, before Ingram squeezed the Portadown driver off the track and into the tyre wall midway through the day-ending reversed grid race as they went wheel-to-wheel for second.
It means Turkington has it all to do to clinch a fifth crown with only visits to Knockhill, Donington Park GP, Silverstone and Brands Hatch GP remaining.
As it stands, he is 75 points adrift of current leader Ingram and 57 shy of Team BMW’s Jake Hill, and 46 behind Sutton who has also conquered the British Touring Car Championship four times.
“Knockhill is one of those tracks that always feels like a bit of a second home to me,” said the 42-year-old, who has 11 seconds of hybrid deployment per qualifying lap on Saturday afternoon and 10 laps of additional power for Sunday’s 24-lap opener.
“Despite the disappointment of what happened at Croft, the big positive for me and the whole team is that we were really quick and if we can get the BMW 330e M Sport performing as well as that this weekend, there is no reason why we cannot be in for a big points score, which is going to feel even more useful right now as we get towards the business end of the season.”
On top of newfound speed from his West Surrey Racing-run BMW, a strong record at the one of the shortest tracks on the British Touring Car Championship calendar is also helping Turkington’s belief.
To date, he has enjoyed three victories around the 1.27-mile venue outside Fife, and has no fewer than 20, top-three performances, including podium doubles between 2020 and 2022.
“Last time out at Croft, our pace was phenomenal, and I had the perfect car to deliver that race three performance — it was just a shame we didn’t get the result we were after,” he said.
“I feel we are due a dose of some good luck and will be giving my everything. For me the only way is up.
“I am hopeful we can pick up exactly where we left off. I think that we all love our annual visit to Knockhill, and this time I cannot wait to get going.
“Since Croft, I have been itching to get back to it and I will be pushing even harder for that complete weekend of results I feel we deserve.”