A podium for Colin Turkington and three points finishes for Tom Oliphant helped Team BMW maintain their lead in both the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ standings on an otherwise challenging British Touring Car Championship weekend at Croft.
Colin’s third-place finish in Race One also kept him in the thick of the fight for the Drivers’ title; the Northern Irishman now 12 points off the series lead with just two events and six races remaining.
Colin clinched his 151st BTCC podium with a typically measured drive in tricky conditions after heavy rain overnight left the track damp.
Unfortunately, that’s as good as it got for the reigning champion, who could not add to his record of 12 wins at the Darlington track.
Instead, an uncharacteristic error at the start of Race Two while challenging for second place forced a non-score and meant a starting position near the back of the grid for the finale.
Contact from a rival then meant Colin was forced to pit for repairs at the end of lap one of the day’s final race.
He promptly broke his own lap record upon returning to the track and took a consolation point for fastest lap, demonstrating the potential of the WSR-designed, built and run BMW 330i M Sport at Croft.
Tom had a strong weekend with two accomplished top-10 finishes. The Leamington Spa-based driver was forced to avoid a spinning Ash Sutton in Race One, dropping him down the order, after which he recovered to finish 11th.
In Race Two Tom fought his way up to a fine seventh place and was able to improve on that to secure sixth in the final race of the day. He lies sixth in the Drivers’ standings.
BMW holds a 33-point lead in the Manufacturers’ title race while Team BMW heads to Snetterton in a fortnight with a 41-point lead in the Teams’ Championship.
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