Colin Turkington has been running through his usual pre-event Q&A as the four-time BTCC champ plans to bounce back from a challenging event at Brands Hatch prior to the summer break. It has been a long five-week wait for the Team BMW star to get his championship challenge back on track, but that’s exactly what the 39-year-old plans to do at Oulton Park this weekend…
IT'S BEEN QUITE A STOP-START SEASON SO FAR COLIN, ARE YOU GLAD TO SEE THE END OF THE LONG SPELLS BETWEEN RACE WEEKENDS?
When you have a difficult weekend like I did at Brands Indy, you're keener than ever to set things straight, but having time to evaluate and improve is a luxury I had to take advantage of too. It was also good to get back in the car at the tyre test and move on.
It's always an exciting feeling knowing that competition isn't too far away, and the lead up to a race weekend never fails to produce butterflies! It’s been time well spent the past five weeks though, but I’m buzzing and ready to power towards this summer series of BTCC events.
WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO LATELY?
The week following Brands, we had a two-day test at Oulton Park, which rolled straight into a four-day Goodwood Festival of Speed event. I was also lucky enough to enjoy the British Grand Prix weekend and attended the London e-Prix just last weekend, alongside my normal driver coaching work.
Consuming other forms of motorsport and getting close to the action is always a fantastic experience for learning. I find you can always pick something up that you can potentially apply to your own approach or performance. I even find my kids listening to team radios to see if they can learn something or pass some information on to me for consideration!
Even at my age, I think it's crucial to be curious and try to find better ways of going about your business.
SO, YOU’RE SAYING NORMALITY WILL RESUME THEN COLIN?
I hope so, and we'll be doing everything we can to make that happen! This will be the first time we’ll have the old normal spectator numbers back too, which at Oulton Park, always brings a festival feel to the event. It was superb to see the capacity crowds back at Silverstone a couple of weeks ago, feeling that atmosphere for the GP was pretty special. We now have this 'fan boost' to look forward to over the summer.
