Colin Turkington has taken the 100th BTCC win for Bavarian marque BMW after producing a dominant lights-to-flag success in the final race at Thruxton.
Turkington fittingly secured the century – having taken both of his BTCC titles in BMW machinery – with arguably one of the more straightforward victories in his illustrious career so far.
The BMW 125i M Sport blasted away from pole position and was never in danger as the Ulsterman looked after his Dunlop SportMaxx tyres from start to finish. Squabbling behind involving Jack Goff, Tom Ingram, Rob Austin and Gordon Shedden made the task slightly easier for Turkington, who produced consistent lap after consistent lap, eventually taken the chequered flag nearly three seconds ahead of the chasing pack.
It was championship leader Ingram that headed that pack, as the Speedworks Toyota man made moves by Goff's Honda and Austin's Toyota. Goff claimed a second podium of the day with his trio of top four results in Hampshire being just reward for the 26-year-old and his Eurotech Racing squad.
Austin was demoted to fifth by Halfords Yuasa Racing's Shedden, who keeps the pressure on Ingram at the top of the table. Adrian Flux Subaru Racing's Ashley Sutton took seventh after making a great pass by Team BMW's Rob Collard, whilst the inseparable Mercedes' of Aiden Moffat and Adam Morgan were next up in the order.
A special mention must go to race one winner Matt Neal, who started the final encounter from the back of the grid following steering problems in race two. The triple BTCC champ carved his way through the field and eventually took an incredible 11th place finish, behind the Vauxhall of Tom Chilton, who impressively set the fastest lap in the Power Maxed Racing Astra.
2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 9 – Thruxton
1 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW 16 laps
2 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +2.576s
3 Jack GOFF (GBR) Eurotech Racing +4.081s
4 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +5.836s
5 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +10.002s
6 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +10.756s
7 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +11.732s
8 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +12.414s
9 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +12.989s
10 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +13.694s
11 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +13.725s
12 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +14.616s
13 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +14.917s
14 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +17.474s
15 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +19.220s
16 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +20.962s
17 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +21.430s
18 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +21.647s
19 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +22.520s
20 Michael EPPS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +22.865s
21 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +26.224s
22 Josh COOK (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +26.275s
23 Will BURNS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +32.973s
24 Josh PRICE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +34.599s
25 Aron TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +41.519s
26 James COLE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +42.960s
27 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +52.180s
28 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +2 laps
DNF Luke DAVENPORT (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +10 laps
DNF Daniel LLOYD (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +15 laps
