ROCKINGHAM PREVIEW

TURKINGTON ‘UNDISTRACTED’ AS HE HONES IN ON ROCKINGHAM

The second half of the 2018 BTCC season is now in full swing with preparations well underway for rounds 19, 20 and 21 at Rockingham this weekend. Back in action less than two weeks after the rain induced drama at Snetterton, the series heads to Northamptonshire for it’s final visit to Rockingham Speedway after being removed from the calendar for 2019. A circuit that historically provides highs and lows for the Championship contenders, it will be hard to top the exciting door to door racing from Snetterton last time out.

TURKINGTON IN BATTLE MODE

Snetterton proved to be a day of combat for Team BMW’s Colin Turkington as he found himself in the heat of the battle on more than one occasion. Despite the challenges, he appeared unfazed and well armed with grit, passion and a purpose to succeed. Crossing the line for the final time of the day in his battered and bruised BMW, his unrelenting fight to finish was a clear signal of his intentions for the remainder of the season.

LOOKING INWARDS NOT OUTWARDS

As always at this stage of the season, the championship standings are closing up and the title fight begins to get hot. The top 8 are separated by 41 points and Colin is currently only 6 points off the lead. The order is likely to change on a race by race basis making points scoring consistency a key factor. Renown as the cool and calm king of consistency, Colin Turkington suggests that now is the time to look inwards for gains and not become distracted by the noise of the others.

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COLIN TURKINGTON

“The focus is now 100% on Rockingham and the opportunities that we can create there. Snetterton challenged us for sure, but we were able to set the difficulties of the first two races aside, and turn that around for the Diamond Double. You only have to look at the number of drivers who didn’t finish.

To win the manufacturers trophy in that one was an important achievement.

We were clearly lacking outright pace compared to the competition but sometimes the game is won by strategy not speed.

Last year we defied the odds here by qualifying P5 with the full 75kgs of success ballast and went on to score a trio of top six finishes. The script changes all the time in the BTCC but if we can be closer to the sharp end in race 1 than Snetterton, then that’s a good place to start.

I’m honing in on every detail that I can do to improve, and what we as a team can do to find gains for the weekend. Now is not the time to become distracted by the competition. It’s time to look inward, look forward and look positive about what we can achieve. We need to find a step in pace if we are to stay ahead.

We have races nearly every two weeks now and the momentum is building. I’m hopeful that my difficulties are behind me and we can push on to the end. It’s not going to be an easy ride but I’m fired up and ready to fight.”

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ROCKINGHAM RACE WEEKEND SCHEDULE

SATURDAY

FP1: 9.25AM

FP2: 12PM

QUALIFYING: 2.50PM

LIVE ONLINE!

SUNDAY

RACE 1: 11.35AM

RACE 2: 2.25PM

RACE 3: 4.45PM

LIVE ON ITV4!

WATCH LIVE ITV4

Back again on your screens this Sunday from 10.45am, join Steve Rider, Louise Goodman and Paul O’Neill as they take you through the bumper packed day of BTCC and support class action broadcast LIVE throughout the day.

TYRE CHOICES

The option tyre for Rockingham will be the HARD compound and must be used in one race over the course of the weekend. Drivers and teams will select which race they choose to run the option tyre before qualifying on Saturday. Race 3 starting positions will return to the standard reversed grid format from race 2 results.

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