PORTADOWN DRIVER NETS VALUABLE BTCC POINTS AT SNETTERTON…

Sunday 13 June saw the return of the 2021 British Touring Car Championship for rounds 4, 5 and 6 of this hotly contested series, where it welcomed the return of track-side spectators who basked in glorious sunshine throughout the weekend.

Those most jubilant however where fans in Northern Ireland watching ITV4’s live coverage of local driver, Colin Turkington, netting some valuable points.

Having qualified P1, the County Armagh native had the upper hand in the first race of the day. Turkington’s veteran experience meant he was able to hold off a healthy hustle from Tom Ingram to take his 155th podium of his BTCC career with a race win, as well as bringing home the fastest lap from race 1.

Turkington commented, “What a start to the day!  I made sure to manage my pace and tyres but Tom kept keeping the pressure on!  Our car just held onto the tyre performance a little bit better than his towards the end. A super race result for the team.  We’ll make a few minor tweaks for the extra weight going in [for race 2].”

Another commanding race followed for Turkington where it seemed likely that he would gain another top spot. However, hard-charging reigning champion, Ash Sutton, made a late overtake on the race-long leader take the win, forcing Turkington into second place, less than half a second behind.

“I had great pace and balance with the weight. Super job as always team! The car was excellent, and I wasn’t expecting that. There was less drop off in the end than race one. Top, top result!” said Turkington.

Carrying 66kg of ballast aboard his BMW 3 Series for race 3, Turkington struggled with pace at the front and not wishing to take risks, brought WSR prepared car home in the top ten, with a 7th place finish.

Turkington said, “I just didn’t have the pace in that one from the beginning, funny how that works sometimes. But look, a great day, two out of three ain’t bad at all! I didn’t want to take big risks, a good day guys, a really good day. We can go home happy!”

Colin Turkington lies third overall in the drivers’ standings, just five points behind championship leader Ash Sutton while team BMW, who Colin drives for lead the manufacturers-constructors standings.