A podium finish for Colin Turkington at Silverstone maintained Team BMW’s push for the British Touring Car Championship across three hard-fought races on Sunday.
A sensational ‘around the outside’ move into the sweeping Brooklands corner with just over a lap remaining of Race Two helped the Northern Irishman’s WSR-run BMW 330i M Sport to cross the line in fourth place.
That then became third – and his seventh podium finish of the year – when another car was excluded for a technical infringement.
Colin’s rostrum result, when added to his fifth and eighth places in the day’s other two races, mean he left Silverstone fourth in the Drivers’ Championship, only four points from second place in the standings.
It also helped marginally increase BMW’s lead in the Manufacturers’ Championship as they chase a record-breaking sixth-straight title.
“It was good to get a podium finish this weekend and to maintain our lead in the Manufacturers’ Championship,” commented team Principal, Dick Bennetts. “I’d hoped we’d have achieved a bit more because all three drivers showed very good pace all weekend with the BMWs.
“Silverstone’s not the kind of circuit where you can make a lot of progress unless you have a big straightline speed advantage, and we simply didn’t have that here. Colin can always get the maximum out of any situation, and Stephen (Jelley) and Tom both drove very well all day.
“It was frustrating for Tom (Oliphant) to get hit in Race Two and lose out on a front-row starting spot – and for the driver that triggered the incident to not only benefit, but to win Race Three as well. We’ll keep fighting though as we chase the title.”
Team-mate Stephen Jelley made constant improvements throughout the day. Ninth and eighth spots for the Leicester racer marked solid results as he kept his nose clean and battled hard.
He was rewarded with his efforts with fifth place in the finale; a result that puts him into an intense fight for eighth place in the championship; Stephen just 10 points away from that position in 12th overall.
Tom Oliphant endured a luckless raceday. After finishing 11th in the opener, he was barged off the track in Race Two while on the fringes of the top 10 and finished 22nd.
Frustratingly this was to cost him a potential victory in Race Three’s as number 11 was chosen as the pole-position number on the partially-reversed grid. He nevertheless charged through the field from 20th to 11th.
Points Tables
DRIVERS
1/ Ash Sutton – 285 points
2/ Tom Ingram – 249
3/ Jake Hill – 247
4/ Colin Turkington – 245
5/ Josh Cook – 222
6/ Aiden Moffat – 196
and
12/ Stephen Jelley – 155
14/ Tom Oliphant – 123
MANUFACTURERS
1/ BMW – 702 points
2/ Ford – 620
3/ Toyota – 538
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