TURKINGTON JOINS THE ELITE
Northern Irishman grabs a last-gasp touring car triumph
Colin Turkington has written himself into the record books by taking a record-equalling fourth British Touring Car Championship crown in dramatic fashion at Brands Hatch on Sunday.
The 37-year-old raced his WSR BMW 330i M Sport to sixth place in the final round of the contest as main rival Dan Cammish crashed out in his Team Dynamics Honda Civic following a brake failure with one and a half laps of the season remaining.
Turkington, who is now tied with Andy Rouse on four titles, said: “I am in shock. I wanted to defeat everyone and be number one in 2019, I was not just chasing records. I wanted that feeling and emotion you get from winning and nothing else in life gives you that. Four titles are amazing – for sure it was the race of my life.”
Four-time British Touring Car champion Colin Turkington says that he drove the “race of his life” to seal the crown in a dramatic showdown at Brands Hatch on Sunday.
The WSR BMW 330i M Sport driver thought the glory had slipped from his grasp after the second of three races in
Kent when he was spun out on the opening lap and could only recover for 25th position.
That, allied to a podium finish for rival, Team Dynamics Honda Civic driver Dan Cammish, consigned Turkington to start on row 13 for the 15-lap final, while Cammish went from eighth place.
Even though Turkington powered through the pack to pass ninth-placed Cammish and run in sixth place, he still needed more to happen. In dramatic fashion, with a lap and a half to go, Cammish suffered a brake failure on his Type R and was pitched into the tyre wall at the high-speed Hawthorn corner. That allowed Turkington to take his fourth crown and WSR teammate Andrew Jordan snatched second place from Cammish on a tie-break countback.
“I was in shock when I crossed the line and they told me I was champion,” said Turkington, who was a five-time winner across the 30-race campaign.
“I do feel for Andy and Dan. You put in a full year’s work to try and win this [title] but I thought it had left me after race two. I thought that was me out. [During race three], my engineer said to me on the pit-to-car radio that Dan was out of the race, but I knew that Andy was up the road [in front of me], so I didn’t know where he was. I didn’t know if what I had done was enough, but I had nobody left to pass. I had passed everyone I could. For sure, it was the race of my life.”
Going fourth
Turkington now stands level with Andy Rouse as the BTCC driver in the championship’s history with the most titles at four.
The 37-year-old said that his prime focus was not on the record books. The 51-time career race winner said that he was solely aiming for the feeling of sealing the 2019 contest.
WSR built the brand new 330i M Sport for the start of this season, and it was the dominant force over the opening part of the campaign until a rule tweak in the middle of the season pegged the two-litre turbocharged cars back slightly. Turkington took four wins in the opening 15 races of the year, but only one in the second part of the contest.
“I never in my wildest dreams thought I would get close to Rouse,” said Turkington. “You don’t really think too much about records. All I wanted to do [was] take the 2019 trophy. The drug is standing on the podium or on the top of the car at the end of the season knowing I have defeated everybody. It was that feeling of elation.
“I wanted to defeat everyone and be number one, I was not just chasing records. It was that feeling of emotion and nothing else in life gives you that.”
The title winner said that the new car produced to a tight timeline at the beginning of the year had been the perfect weapon in his defence of the crown, but the mid-year rule alterations had left him on the back foot.
“When the changes were made our momentum completely went away,” said Turkington. “I had one win at Snetterton, and that was me. Since then we have just been scrapping around for points. Anybody who thinks we won it because we had an advantage – that was certainly not the case, we won it through hard graft, grit and determination. I think that is
what makes it feel so special is that we have just kept on trying and kept on believing.”
Top shelf driver
WSR boss Dick Bennetts, who has run Turkington to all four of his BTCC trophies, praised the driver and said that it was his work ethic which had helped him to achieve his record-equalling title tally.
“He is more than top shelf, Colin,” said Bennetts. “People don’t see, but I do, the notes he makes and his dedication and his focus. He is always looking back through his books of last year or when he was testing. He has got a record of everything. He was even looking at his pole lap when I walked into the engine room at Brands Hatch [on Sunday morning], trying to learn every last detail that he could. He was making notes. He is, off-track and on-track, unreal.
“To come through like he did in race three and to keep his calm despite being taken out in race two is amazing. And I am very happy with Jordan too for coming through to second place because we deserved it.”
Team-mate and championship runner-up Jordan, who missed three races at the second meeting of the season at Donington Park following a lap-one crash which left him concussed, also paid tribute to Turkington.
“I am very proud of the job we have done and the job I have done,” said the 2013 champion. “When was the last time he was pushed this hard? And I did do three less races. Colin is a true professional, but I feel like this is the one that got away, even though I don’t want to take anything away from what Colin has achieved and this has been a fantastic season for BMW.”
Honda heartbreak
Cammish went into the final round eight points ahead of Turkington after winning race one and finishing third in race two, and was set to land his maiden crown in just his second year in the category.
The team said the Honda had experienced what it thought was brake failure on lap 14 of the 15 on the 2.6-mile track, although it would continue to conduct further investigations this week.
Cammish, who recently secured a two-year extension to his Dynamics contract, scored 14 podiums over the course of the year. He said it would take a while for the loss to sink in but he was pleased with the progress he had made in his second year racing in a front-wheel-drive car.
“At the end of the day I have done well to get into this position,” said the 30-year-old. “We have been consistent all year and we have had 14 podiums. I gave it everything: I gave it my best and at the end of the day it just wasn’t to be.
“I don’t know what to say. I am heartbroken that I have lost it, but it hasn’t really sunk in yet. From being eight points in the lead and Colin starting so far back. But that BMW is so fast. It has had 11 wins this year and it has been the fastest thing by a country mile and they fumbled it for such a long time that they almost lost it.
“I can stand here pretty proud with what I have done because I have given it everything and that is that. I didn’t think in the mid-season I would be in with a shout and I certainly went to bed last night thinking it was a long shot. I am pretty pleased.”