Team RAC driver
Colin Turkington admitted he was bitterly disappointed with the latest rounds of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship at
Donington Park after a tough weekend for the
BMW teams in the East Midlands.
The Northern Irish driver was the only BMW driver to break into the top ten in qualifying as the low-grip circuit worked against the rear-wheel drive cars and left them uncharacteristically off the pace.
Confusion at the start of the opening race when the starting lights failed meant race one was started with the drop of a flag. However, Turkington went when the flag was raised and picked up a drive through penalty as a result, dropping him down to 20th place. A Safety Car period helped him to close up on the field and he then came through the pack to take the flag in eighth place.
A gamble on tyres for race two saw Turkington pit for wet rubber but as the circuit dried out, he was left outside the points in 13th and wet tyres again proved to be his undoing in race three as he could only muster twelfth place.
"It has been a difficult day for Team RAC," he reflected afterwards. "I qualified very well yesterday but today I have been unlucky. I didn't start race one as well as I would have liked and the weather conditions made it extremely difficult. I am bitterly disappointed as Donington is one of my favourite circuits but I'm confident that I can improve at
Thruxton."
Team-mate Stephen Jelley was also in the wars and was forced to retire from a strong points scoring position on the final lap of race one while dicing for position with fellow BMW driver Steven Kane.
A technical issue then forced him out of race two before it even started and race three saw the former British F3 runner also lose out on wet tyres to finish outside the top ten – having earlier stormed into the points from the back of the field before the circuit started to dry.
