PORTADOWN'S Colin Turkington secured another superb win for Team RAC at the seventh event of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park on Sunday.
In front of 35,000 people, on a scorching day in Cheshire, Team RAC celebrated further success with Turkington claiming two Independents victories and an outright win to sustain his championship challenge. He now lies third in the overall Drivers’ Ch
ampionship with 150 points.
The first of Sunday’s Independents victories followed a faultless drive in the opening race of the day. Starting eighth, he moved up a place by the first corner. He put pressure on Shedden early into the race and passed him on the final corner of lap seven, following which strong driving by Turkington saw him remain in fifth place for most of the race. Then on lap 14 when he passed former Team RAC driver, Onslow Cole, to finish fourth overall.
Turkington then began the second race from fourth place on the grid and a great start saw him immediately move into second. On lap two he took the lead. It was then that the true pace of the BMW was revealed as the Portadown man began to take a commanding lead which he extended to over six seconds late in the race en route to another win in his steadily mounting 2008 tally. He also set a new lap record of 1 minute 28.516 seconds.
The final action-packed race of the day began with the first start aborted due to a stalled car. Then, after good starts by both Team RAC drivers, a major incident on lap one saw the pair forced off the track and the deployment of the safety car.
Turkington, carrying maximum ballast (45kg), improved on his starting grid position of ninth following the early collision. On the restart he moved up to fifth, but a slide shortly after lost him the advantage. Even so, he finished in seventh place, thereby confirming his position as the in-form driver of the championship.
Afterwards the Portadown ace said, “It has been another fantastic day, with two Independents victories and an outright win overall. The team have worked really hard to give me a great car today - the best it has been all season - and I'm delighted to have rewarded them with another high-scoring day.”
The BTCC heads north to Knockhill for rounds 22, 23 and 24 on Sunday, August 19.
The full article contains 418 words and appears in Portadown Times newspaper.
