Four-time British Touring Car Champion Colin Turkington recorded Team BMW’s first victory of the 2023 season at Brands Hatch on Sunday.
In a scintillating Race One performance, the Northern Irishman recorded his sixth win on the 1.2-mile ‘Indy’ layout of the Kent track, and the 64th of his illustrious career; a result that put him a clear second on the the series’ all-time winners’ list.
“A good day for Colin with a win, a third and a fifth,” commented Team Principal, Dick Bennetts. “He’s strong here, but he’s strong at most circuits and he uses his head.
“Disappointing for Jake (Hill), who was running fourth when the puncture happened. We need to analyse what happened with the left-rear punctures on Jake and Stephen’s (Jelley) cars because Colin was alright on the soft and so was Adam. It’s frustrating because it cost us some points in the Manufacturers’ Championship, but there is a long way to go in the championship. It’s very competitive this year, and we came away with some good points.”
The win was also the 30th BTCC triumph for the current generation of the WSR-designed-and-built BMW 330 M Sport race car (in both i and e variants) since it was introduced to the series in 2019.
Having started the opener from the outside of the front row, with weather conditions mercifully better than they had been in Saturday qualifying, Colin shot into the lead and never looked back, having opted to use the soft Goodyear tyre straight away.
He followed that performance up with a feisty third in Race Two and then added fifth – having started ninth on the partially-reversed grid – to close the day.
His 47-point day elevated him to fourth in the Drivers’ standings and contributed to BMW’s second position in the Manufacturers’ points – just 16 off the championship lead.
The points haul might have been even greater but for the misfortune suffered by Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport driver Jake Hill, who was deprived of a podium challenge late in the final race due to a puncture.
Until that point, Hill, who had started Race Three on the soft tyre, was chasing down third position, having started eighth in his BMW 330e M Sport.
Jake had looked set to build on strong fourth-place finishes in the opening two races. The Kent driver leaves his home circuit fifth in the standings, just 12 behind Colin.
WSR new boy Adam Morgan delivered storming drives in Races Two and Three. An accident in qualifying forced the Lancashire racer to start near the back in Race One, and he was then innocently caught up in a collision that also eliminated Team BMW team-mate Stephen Jelley on the opening lap.
Both BMWs required significant repairs, but while Stephen was forced to sit out Race Two, Adam was able to get back out on track, delivering an outstanding drive to finish 16th after starting from the pitlane. He then converted 16th place on the grid into sixth in Race Three with another excellent charge.
Unfortunately, Stephen’s luck was not to improve after his Race One elimination. Thanks to brilliant and efficient work by the Team BMW mechanics, his car was back in full working order for Race Three and the Leicester racer duly set about racing through the field before he too suffered a puncture that ended his impressive charge.
The BTCC continues in two weeks’ time at Snetterton in Norfolk, where Colin took two clean sweeps (pole position, victory and fastest lap) from three races last year.
Championship Points
DRIVERS
1/ Dan Cammish – 88 points
2/ Tom Ingram – 83
3/ Ash Sutton – 78
4/ Colin Turkington – 70
5/ Jake Hill – 58
6/ Bobby Thompson – 48
9/ Adam Morgan – 36
18/ Stephen Jelley – 13
MANUFATURERS
1/ Ford – 176 points
2/ BMW – 160
3/ Hyundai – 158
4/ Toyota – 100
TEAMS
1/ NAPA Racing UK – 166 points
2/ Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 – 135
3/ Team BMW – 117
4/ Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils – 82
5/ Toyota GAZOO Racing UK – 77
6/ ONE Motorsport with Starline Racing – 67
7/ Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport – 62
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