Turkington gets grid penalty for next race

Former champion Colin Turkington has been handed a third reprimand of the season, which means the Subaru Team BMR BTCC driver will start the opening race at Silverstone from the back of the grid.

The Northern Irishman was told off after the opening race for putting all four wheels below the white line at the edge of the Rockingham circuit as he was overtaking Josh Cook on his way to fourth place. Turkington was handed a six-second penalty that dropped him back behind MG man Cook in the results in fifth.

In race three, he was adjudged to have passed Jake Hill’s Toyota as the yellow flags came out for a safety car.

“I am gutted about this, because both Rockingham incidents are relatively minor and they are going to make things tough,” he said. “I felt I had been squeezed onto the grass by Josh, but they didn’t see it that way.

“In race three, I was side-by-side with Jake racing for the line. I felt we were level, but Jake’s bumper must have been ahead of me by a fraction of a millimetre. It is very hard to judge those things when you’re strapped in the car.”

He had picked up a penalty for an incident with Rob Collard at the last meeting at Knockhill too, which now means he will start from the back at Silverstone on September 18.

“Our car excels on tracks that are chassis dependant, so Silverstone will be hard,” said Turkington. “There aren’t many corners to pass on… The title will be tough, but we will keep on pushing.”

Team BKR VW CC driver Mark Howard was also reprimanded after race three and he too will start at the back at Silverstone.