Reigning British Touring Car Teams’ and Manufacturers’ Champions Team BMW came away from Thruxton as the outfit in form after another glittering performance in the third race meeting of the season
The new WSR-designed-and-built BMW 330i M Sport clinched another two victories in the hands of BMW Pirtek Racing driver Andrew Jordan, meaning the car has now won five of the nine races run so far in 2019.
This represents the most successful start to a season in terms of wins for WSR, who also claimed their 85th victory in the series.
Moreover, reigning Drivers’ champion Colin Turkington left Thruxton leading the points table after another triple haul of points with three strong top-10 finishes.
“That little indiscretion from Tom hurt him big time, but he showed his potential by racing from 14th to seventh in Race Three,” commented Team Principal Dick Bennetts. “As for Colin; he comes away from Thruxton with the championship lead. It’s our best start to the season ever and all the cars have been reliable at each start. I’m very happy as we head to Croft.”
Having finished fourth in Race One, the three-time title-winner spent the whole of Race Two in the wheeltracks of stablemate Andrew as the pair engaged in a race-long duel for the lead on Colin’s 400th BTCC start.
There could have even more points than the seven he scored in Race Three, after he climbed four places to sixth with a brilliant start. But he got trapped behind a slow-starting rival after a safety-car restart and decided that caution was the better part of valour, finishing ninth.
Team-mate Tom Oliphant faced an uphill battle through the day as he fought back from a drive-through penalty in Race One.
Having parked out of position on the grid, Tom, who started 10th, dropped to the back of the field before fighting back to 23rd.
Having moved up to 15th in Race Two, he charged through the pack in the final race of the day to finish as top BMW driver in seventh.
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