Team BMW's Colin Turkington has again shown his class and determination by winning Round 19 of the 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, securing a commanding a lights-to-flag triumph at Knockhill.
His 70th career victory in the opener at Croft last time out was supposed to signal his championship charge, although the remainder of the day in North Yorkshire didn't quite go to plan, but Turkington has ensured his season remains on-track with a dominant performance here at Knockhill.
"It always looks easy when you're six seconds up the road," said Turkington. "It was still difficult out there but when I saw there was a battle going on behind for second place, it enabled me to stride away into the distance. I'm very pleased to get on the top step here."
Josh Cook (LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ) grabbed a brilliant second place – coming to Knockhill following a first victory of the season at Croft – as the Toyota man made a great move on Team BMW's Adam Morgan in the Scottish curtain raiser.
Morgan claimed a first podium of the season with a pace and confidence that suggests the likeable Lancashire racer should be chasing more silverware during the remainder of the season.
Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing's Árón Taylor-Smith was muscled out of second in a scrap with Morgan and Cook, but fourth place again represented a good result for the Irishman.
It's not often you would say that Jake Hill (Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport) and Ash Sutton (NAPA Racing UK) would be content with fifth and sixth respectively, but the title chasing duo responded well after a difficult qualifying yesterday and both are nicely poised for the next two bouts.
Dan Rowbottom (NAPA Racing UK) was relegated to seventh at the finish, aiding team-mate Sutton's charge, whilst Rob Huff (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK), Dan Cammish (NAPA Racing UK) and Mikey Doble (Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing) rounded out the top ten.
Championship leader Tom Ingram (Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS) endured a bruising encounter and a rare DNF, meaning the title race has closed up even further with two races remaining today.
Race 1 - Knockhill - Classification:
| P/ | No/ | Name/ | Entry/ | Laps/ | Time/ | Gap/ | Best/ | On/ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | Colin TURKINGTON | Team BMW | 24 | 20:53.082 | 51.300 | 3 | |
| 2 | 66 | Josh COOK | LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ | 24 | 21:01.390 | 8.308 | 51.555 | 4 |
| 3 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | Team BMW | 24 | 21:02.199 | 9.117 | 51.443 | 3 |
| 4 | 40 | Árón TAYLOR-SMITH | Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing | 24 | 21:03.155 | 10.073 | 51.563 | 2 |
| 5 | 24 | Jake HILL | Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport | 24 | 21:03.585 | 10.503 | 51.765 | 4 |
| 6 | 1 | Ashley SUTTON | NAPA Racing UK | 24 | 21:06.042 | 12.960 | 51.961 | 5 |
| 7 | 32 | Daniel ROWBOTTOM | NAPA Racing UK | 24 | 21:06.847 | 13.765 | 51.648 | 6 |
| 8 | 12 | Rob HUFF | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK | 24 | 21:07.158 | 14.076 | 51.877 | 7 |
| 9 | 27 | Dan CAMMISH | NAPA Racing UK | 24 | 21:08.114 | 15.032 | 51.996 | 5 |
| 10 | 88 | Mikey DOBLE | Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing | 24 | 21:09.359 | 16.277 | 52.257 | 5 |
| 11 | 11 | Andrew WATSON | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK | 24 | 21:14.051 | 20.969 | 51.936 | 4 |
| 12 | 77 | Sam OSBORNE | NAPA Racing UK | 24 | 21:15.852 | 22.770 | 51.833 | 8 |
| 13 | 222 | Chris SMILEY | Restart Racing | 24 | 21:20.363 | 27.281 | 52.228 | 5 |
| 14 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | 24 | 21:21.955 | 28.873 | 52.545 | 13 |
| 15 | 18 | Daryl DELEON | Duckhams Racing With Bartercard | 24 | 21:26.837 | 33.755 | 52.622 | 6 |
| 16 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ | 24 | 21:29.273 | 36.191 | 52.544 | 4 |
| 17 | 14 | Ronan PEARSON | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | 24 | 21:34.102 | 41.020 | 52.600 | 5 |
| 18 | 29 | Scott SUMPTON | Restart Racing | 24 | 21:39.821 | 46.739 | 52.852 | 6 |
| 19 | 22 | Nick HALSTEAD | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | 24 | 21:45.781 | 52.699 | 53.224 | 6 |
| DNF | 80 | Tom INGRAM | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | 10 | 9:11.509 | 14 Laps | 52.477 | 5 |
