TURKINGTON REFLECTS ON BTCC SEASON
How the four-time BTCC title winner held his nerve in 2019. By Matt James
There was a feeling that the 2018 British Touring Car Championship season was one to simply get through for eventual title-winner Colin Turkington. The Northern Irishman was not having a year to relish, as the tight regulations meant that he was having squeeze every last ounce out of the Wsr-run BMW 125i M Sport, and he went through the 30-race roster claiming only one victory.
As well as that, there were some tumultuous times in his personal life with the loss of his mother. Sure, 2018 gave him his third crown, but it was a year that he wanted to see the back of.
Fast forward 12 months, and the feeling is entirely different. Armed with WSR’S latest BMW 330i M Sport, there were new challenges to relish. He embraced it with gusto but, as is always the case in the BTCC, it came down to a nail-biting conclusion.
In all of Turkington’s title triumphs, he has been ahead in the standings going into the final race and has had a lead to protect, but not in 2019. He was eight points adrift of the Honda of Dan Cammish as the cars lined up at Brands Hatch and prepared for the final 15 laps of the year.
Turkington rose from 25th on the grid to an eventual sixth place, which was enough to seal the job once Cammish’s Team Dynamics car had speared into the gravel following brake failure with a lap and a half to go.
There was some serious emotion from Turkington on the cooling down lap. He screamed so loudly inside the car that he lost his voice, and was struggling to make himself heard when he spoke to ITV4’S Louise Goodman at the end of the race.
He knew he had been through the mill. “It was the toughest championship to win because the series gets more competitive every year,” says Turkington. “The margins between the teams and drivers is much less than five or 10 years ago, so you have to maximise every department.
“That last race at Brands Hatch had to be the race of my life to win [the title] and it was. I knew I had to make up a lot of ground in the opening laps to have any chance, but also I needed the car still in one piece. I couldn’t just go gung ho. I was just prepared to give it my best shot and go down fighting. The shackles were off for once because I had nothing to lose. I was eight points behind Dan and starting 25th, so there was less pressure than the other showdowns. Once I was back inside the top 15 after the first lap, I knew it was game on.”
It was game on, and it brought him his fourth crown to tie with Andy Rouse as the most successful driver in terms of crowns collected. It also marked a milestone for Turkington’s team, WSR. It had been facing a race against time to prepare three of the new 330i M Sports for the beginning of the season having only got the sign-off on the new cars late on in 2018. There was a very real threat that it wouldn’t have three cars ready for Brands Hatch’s opener in April, but it managed. Just.
The combination of Turkington and WSR has been perfect. All of his success has come with the team, and it is a blend that has consistently been the benchmark in the category since the pair first worked together in 2002.
Turkington did have a sojourn at Vauxhall and a two-year stint at BMR Racing in a VW and then a Subaru, but the big trophies have come with the Dick Bennetts-run team. It is a blend of success that he has been unable to find elsewhere.
“I enjoy my racing at WSR and they are consistently able to get the best out of me,” admits Turkington. “The whole team is working in the same direction and what I like most is the positive and friendly atmosphere, where everybody works extremely hard, but also know how to have a laugh.
“The people are what make WSR such a special place for me. A lot of the staff have been there a long time, so we are much more friends than colleagues. I enjoy giving my best for them because I know everyone gives it 100% back at base at Lower Sunbury. There is a big emphasis on always pushing to be better or faster and never being satisfied and I like that approach.
“To win the championship everything needs to be perfect, the team, the driver and the car and I’m fortunate the stars have aligned for me four times with WSR. I came close to winning the championship in my second season at BMR too, but it was a year too early for the car.”
Developing a new car this year was a new journey for Turkington, who first raced the 125i M Sport when it was introduced into the BTCC in 2013.
That, in itself, was a new chapter for Turkington, but on that it took him a while to get to grips with.
While his team-mate Andrew Jordan won the second race of the season at Brands Hatch’s opening meeting, Turkington had to be content with only one fifth place as he took a while to get on top of the handling of the new machine. He was also working with a new engineer, Dan Millard, for the first time.
Turkington explains: “The [330i M Sport] is, in fact, very similar to the
1 Series in terms of balance and has a lot of the same characteristics handlingwise, but the main difference for me is the longer wheelbase.
“I had a few tools on the 1 Series to help with my driving style that hadn’t made it across to the 3 Series initially, but once we got these back on the car it was immediately fast for me and I was confident again.
“We only had one test day before the first race, so our pace was unknown, but it became apparent to me quickly at Brands that I needed more time to tune and find the sweet spot. We had a test at Thruxton before the next round at Donington Park and I came away from this knowing I was on the right path.”
The fact he took five wins was a real turnaround from 2018, when he only took one victory in a hugely competitive season. He said, at the end of the year, that it had not been a satisfactory season. He was going into each round with 75kg of ballast as the points leader.
That was a handicap too far and left him with a real struggle right from the get-go of each meeting. Even the rulemakers knew that, and dropped the level of success ballast from 75kg to 54kg.
“I much preferred the ballast rules this year because with maximum weight you are still in the race, even with 54kg,” adds Turkington. “Previously with 75kg on board you were just trying to survive and get to the end. Getting involved in a battle meant you killed the tyres, so it was not a nice way to race, just getting to the end. I had double wins this year at Donington and Oulton, which would have been impossible in 2018.
“I much prefer being able to race at the front even with the ballast. It’s a big challenge to find a quick set-up with maximum ballast but, if you do, it reaps big rewards. Five wins this year compared to one in 2018 shows how difficult it was with 75kg.”
Even so, the rulemakers in the BTCC have a desire to keep the competition close, and the prowess of the 330i M Sport was giving it a serious leg-up in the points. A mid-year turbo boost tweak and an alteration in the centre of gravity equalisation rules made life tougher for the WSR men, and Turkington only took one win in the second half of the season.
“The pack completely tightened up from Snetterton onwards,” says Turkington. “Combining the championship adjustments with the fact that I started every weekend on maximum ballast for leading, meant that consistency was key in the second half.
“The second Thruxton meeting highlighted it: we just had no pace against the others. The chassis set-up was pretty much the same as our first visit, but we were nowhere all weekend, even with a car that was working well. I just kept reminding myself that it’s supposed to be difficult and nobody gets it easy and sometimes it’s better to just put your head down and work harder rather than complaining.”
The hard work at WSR has been tougher over the last three seasons with 2013 champion Jordan alongside him at the WSR squad. Jordan himself said he had joined WSR to measure himself against Turkington, the acknowledged rear-wheel-drive master.
Jordan pushed Turkington very hard this year, and the bubble between the two almost burst at Silverstone with some very robust racing, which was on the verge of overstepping the mark. The team-mates were battling in the lower part of the top 10 but every point mattered.
“Andrew has improved every year at WSR and he has some very good people working on his car,” says Turkington.
“He is always driving or racing something and I think this translates into really good speed. In the end there was only two points between us, so for sure he had a great season. He was already a champion before he came to WSR, so his level was already very high.
“Andy came out of the blocks really quick with the 3 Series and, after two seasons with rear-wheel drive and consistency with the team, he was firing on all cylinders. His level definitely went up again this year, but that was good for us all. I had to find another level to go with him. Some things he does really well, like the starts and I have been able to improve my technique because of this.
“I think his approach at Silverstone was the same as any other driver fighting for the championship would have been. Because we are in the same team the situation becomes a bit more delicate, but I was never annoyed about it or there was no bad blood, it was just hard racing.”
At the beginning of 2018, Turkington finally acceded to the line that the media, MN included, wanted to hear. He says he was teasing when he doffed his cap to Andy Rouse’s four BTCC titles, but he had admitted that the record was on the radar.
Turkington, who can stand alone as the most successful driver in terms of titles should he collect another crown in 2020, says: “I mentioned Andy’s record in jest and with a smile, but honestly not really targeting it specifically.
“Of course a huge part of me would love that record, but my focus is and has always has been about trying to win each year. I am a competitive person and I want to win anything I sign up to. For me it’s not about the records or number of titles. It’s the satisfaction of standing on the champions podium knowing that all your hard work has paid off and that you are number one, that’s what keeps me motivated and wanting more. I feel that now is my time to shine given I’m with the best team and have a strong car, so I will continue to work hard.”
Given the groundwork he has put in and the record of success he has already put in the book, that journey is set to continue its upward trajectory.