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Turkington: "Title in Neal's hands"

Colin Turkington says this year’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship is now Matt Neal’s to lose after the reigning champion built up a 53-point lead over him with just six races of this year’s series to go.

Turkington saw a 37-point deficit increase to 53 in the third of three races at Knockhill last weekend when his Team RAC MG cruelly retired with mechanical problems just moments after he’d taken the lead from Neal.

The 24-year-old Northern Irishman knows he needs a reversal of fortunes in Brands Hatch’s penultimate three rounds in a fortnight’s time if he is to realistically harbour any hopes of becoming the BTCC’s youngest champion on Finals Day at Silverstone on 15 October.

Turkington, from Portadown, told BTCC.net: “The MG has always flown at Brands Hatch and I think there’s the potential for a couple of wins there this time, but the championship is very much in Matt’s hands now.

“For me to win it now will need him to have a complete disaster. Mathematically it’s still possible and the team will not give up and we must keep believing. There are still six races, but the opportunity is very small.”

Turkington said he was only just getting over the disappointment of last Sunday’s retirement that would have seen him keep up the pressure on Team Halfords driver Neal that he’s been applying for the vast majority of the season.

He added: “We had the legs on the Hondas (of Neal and team-mate Gareth Howell) and I actually found it quite easy to catch them and get past them into the lead. But the battery alarm had been on from lap two and I knew there might be a problem. It didn’t make it any less upsetting though when the car stopped. It hurt us all for a few days after.”

Turkington’s race day had already been hampered by a clash in race two with Howell that forced him into the pit lane for repairs and meant he finished ninth a lap down on the leaders. To add insult to injury, he later found out Neal had survived a multiple collision on the last lap to cross the line sixth.

“I’ve seen the ITV coverage now and how Matt survived is unbelievable,” said Turkignton. “Matt’s car got hit by about four other cars and still he kept going whereas everyone else bounced off him and retired.

“It’s important we pick ourselves up quickly and move on to Brands Hatch. We’ve got a few new tricks on the car up our sleeves that I’m keen to try out and I think will work. They could just keep us hanging in there and I want to make sure I at least take it to the wire for the fans. Matt’s already said he’s not looking forward to Silverstone.

“The run of play at the moment, though, doesn’t suggest we’ll be able to take massive points out of Matt at Brands. It’s for him to lose now and if he drives sensibly and doesn’t take any big risks he’s got it, I’d have thought.”