Thursday 20 March 2014

'Everybody wants to win' - Turkington aims for title number two in 2014


Colin Turkington is back with the WSR eBay Motors squad in the BTCC this year and has set his sights firmly on a second championship.

The Portadown racer claimed six wins on his way to the title in 2009, seeing off Fabrizio Giovanardi and Jason Plato in a dramatic season finale at Brands Hatch. However, with WSR loosing the backing of RAC, Turkington would not be back to defend his title the following season.

After spells in the World and Scandinavian touring car championships, he returned to the BTCC last year and once again battled for the championship, winning five races, eventually finishing fifth in yet another close season.

The West Surrey Racing team have been working over the winter, with notable aerodynamic changes being implemented to give the BMW 125i NGTC more rear grip, something that Turkington believes will allow them to close the gap to the front and he's confident those changes will allow him to reclaim his crown.

"That's what we're aiming for, [the title]" said Turkington. "You've got to set your sights on what you believe you can achieve so that's what we're going for."

However, as one of seven champions on a vast and competitive grid, Turkington is under no illusion that it'll be an easy task.

"It's going to be harder than ever. There's a lot of good drivers out there and you've got to be at the top of your game all the time." He said, "it's going to be tough".


Full Colin Turkington interview



Dominik Wilde: So it's your second year with the NGTC car, what have you done over the winter to improve it from last season?

Colin Turkington: The biggest changes really are on bodywork, aerodynamics, trying to give us a bit more grip on the rear, so trying to obviously get a bit more downforce so the exterior of the car probably looks a bit different and that's the most significant change and hopefully that will bring us a step further towards the front.

Dominik Wilde: You were competitive last year and no doubt you'll be expecting to competitive again this year but with such a big grid does that change things, does that make it even harder?

Colin Turkington: Yeah it makes it a more competitive grid, times are going to be loser and you've got to always be on the game so yeah it's going to be harder than ever. There's a lot of good drivers out there and you've got to be at the top of your game all the time. So yeah, it's going to be tough but at least we're going into the second year of the car with a bit of understanding of what to do with it.

Dominik Wilde: You're one of seven champions on the grid this year, is there anyone you've got your eye on? Is there any one you want to beat?

Colin Turkington: Everybody wants to win and there's a lot of quick guys outside the people that have won it so you can't focus on any one driver. It's hard to know yet who's quick and who's a bit off the pace.

Dominik Wilde: So what do you expect to achieve this year? No doubt you're going for another championship?

Colin Turkington: Yeah, that's what we're aiming for, as is everybody else. You've got to set your sights on what you believe you can achieve so that's what we're going for.

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