Colin Turkington: “We did the best that we could”

BTCC points leader Colin Turkington insisted he had done the best that he could after securing a top ten starting position for the series’ special Diamond Double race at Snetterton.

The Team BMW driver had earlier qualified in 15th spot in his ballast-laden car for the opening race of the weekend following the traditional 30 minute session, but then saw the weight taken out of his car for the shorter session that decided the grid for the special 60 mile race – which awards double points.

Turkington looked well set to secure a place at the head of the field when he put his BMW on top of the times, only to then lose his best lap in the session to a track limits infringement.

Instead, he had to settle for eighth place but said he was still in a good position to start the special anniversary race.

“We’ve done the best that we could today,” he said. “Q1 was always going to be tough with the ballast situation and we went out there and got the most that we could from that session in the position that we were in.

“What is a real positive for is is the fact that we we went so much quicker when we took the weight out for the second session and it was just unfortunate that we missed out on the chance to start on the front row to a track limits penalty. I can’t have done much more than breathe on the sensor and we’ve ended up in P8 on the grid which is unfortunate but something we have to deal with.

“Of course it isn’t ideal, but we know we have a good car and are in a position to race tomorrow.”