THRUXTON PREVIEW

“CONFIDENCE IS KEY” FOR TURKINGTON WITH HIS STEP BY STEP 3 SERIES APPROACH

Colin Turkington secured a double podium at a scorching Thruxton in 2018, and armed with his new 2019 BMW 3 Series, is seeking similar success when the BTCC returns to the Hampshire circuit this weekend 18th and 19th May.

STRENGTHENING CONNECTION

The triple champion has been working tirelessly in his pursuit of performance with the new-for-2019 BMW 3 Series, and last time out at Donington Park, we bore witness to this strengthening connection between driver and car.  Showcasing his silky smooth speed, the Team BMW star dominated with a pole position, two lights to flag victories and a fastest lap.

RECAP ON DONINGTON PARK HERE
WATCH THE RACES AGAIN HERE

TIME AND TESTING

Turkington has been honest from the beginning; admitting the car felt good; but before we would see the full potential of what it could achieve, he needed time and testing to get it speaking his language.  Insisting it was important to take it step by step, Colin has been immersing himself in the engineering development of his BMW, and a successful test prior to Donington Park hinted at the progress of this journey. His passion to push the development forwards is as potent as ever, and heading to Thruxton with a test under his belt, Colin aims to commence morning practice in a positive place.

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COLIN TURKINGTON

“From the beginning of this project, my motivation levels have been sky high.  It’s such an honour to be involved in this BMW story, but of course involvement alone is not enough.  I invest everything to ensure I improve and be my best.

The consistency of results we achieved at Donington was very rewarding and confirms to me that we are going the right way.  This step by step process allows us to confidently move forwards and in the fierce battlefield of the BTCC, confidence is key.

Once again I think the stronger aero package of the 3 Series will bolster our Thruxton capabilities and we were gifted a decent day of warm weather for our recent test there last month.  This was good to give us a leg-up on what we can expect come the race weekend.

I have no doubt the competition will be strong and we need to ensure we give everything on Saturday to get into a good place for race day.  If we can roll out in morning practice reasonably near the window of performance, then it’ll be up to me to bring the magic for qualifying.

The hard tyre doesn’t drop off the same as perhaps it used to in years gone by, so we can’t rely on the BMW looking after its tyres to give us an advantage over race distance.

We’ve got to keep pushing this new car forwards, keep our heads down and be brave in our expectations of what we can achieve.  The game moves on but if we keep this momentum going we should be in good shape by the end of the weekend.”

THRUXTON RACE WEEKEND SCHEDULE

WATCH LIVE ON ITV4

Showing on ITV4 this Sunday from 11:15am, Thruxton will be broadcast LIVE throughout the day.

ABOUT THRUXTON

Circuit length: 2:36 miles
Qualifying record: M NEAL, 1:15.612s, 2018
Race record: T INGRAM, 1:17.060s, 2018

The BTCC grid will use the HARD tyre as the sole tyre choice at Thruxton.  The drivers must use the hard tyre for every session providing it is not declared WET.

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FLYING THE BMW FLAG

Colin Turkington has enjoyed a bumper packed schedule of events since the previous BTCC event.  Returning to Donington Park less than a week following his double win, Turkington swapped new for old when he hopped into a ex DTM BMW M3 at the Donington Historic Festival.

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BMW AT THE ROYAL AUTOMOBILE CLUB EPSOM

He then joined BMW Cooper at the prestigious RAC in Epsom last Friday and Saturday (10th and 11th May) showcasing the BMW luxury range for test drives.  Getting behind the wheel of the likes of the i8 Roadster, the 8 Series, the BMW X7, the new Z4 and more; Colin happily took members for a spin around the stunning 350 acres estate in the Surrey countryside.

BMW DRIVING EXPERIENCE DAYS

Colin will take to the track at Oulton Park today (14th May) and tomorrow with the BMW M240i race car giving hot laps at a BMW Driving Experience event.  This is the first of the experience days for 2019 and Colin will use this time to his advantage ahead of his BTCC event at the Cheshire circuit on the 29th and 30th June.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE BMW DRIVING EXPERIENCE DAYS

STAY UP TO SPEED ON SOCIALS

Make sure to keep up to speed on social media with lots of behind the scenes content on Colin’s instagram, facebook and twitter.

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