Britain's premier motorsport series is firmly back on the menu... following the opening weekend’s action at Thruxton’s Hampshire circuit, four-time champion Colin Turkington discussed the preliminary rounds of the BTCC campaign in the Q&A below.
“When you weigh up the weekend with the number of incidents, penalties, and challenging weather, three top ten scores is a good result. Given the level of competition, increased success ballast and the return of option tyres, it will be very difficult to secure big point hauls like we saw in 2020.
“More than that, I'm so happy with the people around me and the passion we all have to achieve success. This counts for a lot.”
"I tweaked my back out running in the week previous so I arrived a bit tender on the Friday but nothing serious. After the first few laps of practice though, I knew I was in trouble. Qualifying was a real challenge but with the help of a chiropractor and the BTCC doctor, I was straightened out and ready to go on Sunday.
"It's just another episode in the world of BTCC! Everyone will face their own personal challenges throughout the year; it's how you get through them that matters."
"It feels great to be back racing! The season opener always throws out a few curveballs, and I was expecting a fierce challenge this year. You can never predict who is going to be at the sharp end and without the time penalty in race one, I think we had the pace.
"I try to just keep on looking at the bigger picture and where we can improve. We have a few weeks up our sleeve ahead of Snetterton, one of our stronger tracks last year, so I'm looking forward to hunting out some podiums."
Having bagged pole position, two fastest laps and a pair of victories at Snetterton last year, Turkington's confidence for the next event (12/13 June) is warranted, as the weekend also marks the first of three Top Ten qualifying Shootouts this season and the BTCC legend will arrive without significant success ballast aboard his BMW 330i M Sport.
