TURKINGTON’S TIME TO SHINE

COLIN TURKINGTON LOOKS TO SHINE BRIGHT AS BTCC GETS BACK TO BUSINESS AT OULTON PARK

• The 2021 BTCC season resumes this weekend, 31st July / 1st August, following a five week hiatus.
• With only three events completed since May, there are still nine events – 21 races – to go.
• Capacity crowds are set to return to Oulton Park on Sunday, bringing the first ‘festival feel’ to a BTCC race day since 2019.
• It’s been a while without a race, but 3 BTCC race weekends take place within the next 5 weeks. Now that’s more like it!!
• It’s been an up and down start to the season for Team BMW’s Colin Turkington, but the 4 x Champ is confident normality will resume and is keen to power through the summer series of events.
• The Goodyear Soft tyre is in play on race day, providing an element of strategy into the three races.
• Colin discusses ‘Brain Power’ in the latest instalment of his health series.

COLIN TURKINGTON

IT’S BEEN QUITE A STOP-START SEASON SO FAR COLIN, ARE YOU GLAD TO SEE THE END OF THE LONG SPELL BETWEEN RACE WEEKENDS?

When you have a difficult weekend like I did at Brands Indy, you’re keener than ever to set things straight, but having time to evaluate and improve is a luxury I had to take advantage of too. It was also good to get back in the car at the tyre test and move on.

It’s always an exciting feeling knowing that competition isn’t too far away, and the lead up to a race weekend never fails to produce butterflies! It’s been time well spent the past five weeks though, and I’m buzzing and ready to power towards this summer series of BTCC events.

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO LATELY?

The week following Brands, we had a two day test at Oulton Park, which rolled straight into a four day Goodwood Festival Of Speed event. I was also lucky enough to enjoy the British Grand Prix weekend and attended the London e-Prix just last weekend alongside my normal driver coaching work. Consuming other forms of motorsport and getting close to the action is always a fantastic experience for learning. I find you can always pick something up you can potentially apply to your own approach or performance. I even find my kids scanning team radios to see if they can learn something or pass some information on to me for consideration! Even at my age, I think it’s crucial to be curious and try to find better ways of going about your business.

LOOKING AHEAD TO OULTON PARK, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?

I think it’s going to be tough, and the competition won’t have slackened off any. It’s up to me to bring the best version of myself to Oulton Park if I want to make inroads to the top of the standings. The ultra-close lap times around the short Indy circuit last time out, coupled with the weight in my car banished any hopes I had of scoring three top ten finishes, but I think Oulton will be different. The lap times shouldn’t be so close, and there’s scope for the driver to compensate for the weight slightly with technique. It’s one of my favourite circuits to drive and we have some pretty cool memories from there.

All in all, we’ve got to raise our game, work harder, work smarter and do what we do best.

We need to roll the car out on Saturday morning razor sharp and I need to be at my best! We’ve got a challenge on our hands, but I relish that.

SO YOU’R SAYING NORMALITY WILL RESUME THEN COLIN?

I hope so, and we’ll be doing everything we can to make that happen!  This will be the first time we’ll have the old normal spectator numbers back too, which at Oulton Park, always brings a festival feel to the event. It was superb to see the capacity crowds back at Silverstone a couple of weeks ago, feeling that atmosphere for the GP was pretty special.  We now have this ‘fan boost’ to look forward to over the summer.

OULTON PARK SCHEDULE

GOODYEAR TYRE CHOICES

The BTCC Goodyear option tyre will be back in play on race day at Oulton Park. Drivers can use the SOFT compound tyres in one of the three races.

STAY UP TO DATE LIVE FROM THE PADDOCK

Follow all the latest behind the scenes images and videos from the paddock, LIVE throughout the weekend on Colin’s social channels.

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

FACEBOOK

FAMINE TO FEAST

It’s been five weeks without a race, but within the next five weeks there will be three BTCC race weekends to enjoy. Now that’s more like it!!

BRAIN POWER

Colin was recently confirmed as a health ambassador for Nordiq Nutrition UK. In a season long series to support this, Colin will reveal and explain various aspects of his health that impact his professional and personal life.

The third episode in this series is BRAIN function.

CLICK TO READ!

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