Colin Turkington says new BMW 125i a “significant step”

2009 British Touring Car champion Colin Turkington believes West Surrey Racing’s new BWM 125i challenger is a much improved package as the team run the car for the second time this season.

The team tested at Brands Hatch earlier in the week, with all three drivers setting competitive times in the upgraded Next Generation Touring Car-specification 125i M. The team then unveiled the new, more colourful livery, at a BMW dealership in London yesterday afternoon ahead of the media day launch and test next week at Donington Park.

“First and foremost the car looks stunning, it’s an evolution of what he had last year,” said Turkington to TouringCarTimes. “Performance-wise there have been a few significant steps from last year; the aerodynamics have the been the biggest step forward. Already we can feel the car gives you a little bit more confidence than it gave us last year, just being able to turn in with a bit more grip at the rear.

“(But) every other team will also have improved their package and moved on, but hopefully we’ll be able to have made a slightly bigger step than the others.”

After a successful test at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit on Tuesday, where all three cars were in action throughout the whole day without incident, Turkington believes the signs are good, but no one can be sure until the first race.

“I think we’ve been competitive. I don’t think anybody really shows their hand till the opening race. We’re still in the testing phase. We’re not yet fine tuning the car for a particular day, at Brands Hatch for instance, we were still testing things and trying to find good chunks of time, so we’re still focussing on our own project and making good strides forward.”

Turkington’s title challenge in 2013 was upset in the latter half of the year through incidents not of his own making. With new rules coming in to enforce driving standards, it’s believed they will help this year, though not as much as having an improved car in the first place.

“Staying out of trouble is a big part of success in touring cars,” said Turkington. “The difficulty last year was a lot of the times we just weren’t quick enough. We were running near the front but the guys on a soft tyre or whatever were coming through and were quite a bit quicker, and in that instance you become quite vulnerable, but I think we’re going to turn up with a quicker base car this year, so that should make it easier to stay out of trouble.

“For sure, things like the more strict penalties and guidelines on driving standards and even track limits may play to our favour a little bit.”

Finally reflecting on a Championship which sees former BTCC and WTCC drivers Fabrizio Giovanardi and Alain Menu return to the fold, Turkington adds that it’s a great time to be in the BTCC.

“The cream of the crop are in British Touring Cars at the moment, the strength of the grid is higher than ever, and it’s great to be a part of that, and you always want to challenge yourself against the best guys out there, and it’s going to be a great spectacle.”