Colin Turkington has moved into the lead of the Independents' championship following a solid run in the latest rounds of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship at
Snetterton.
The Team RAC driver secured two Independents' wins at the wheel of his
BMW 320si to open up a 15 point lead in the standings ahead of
Mat Jackson heading to the next round of the season at
Oulton Park later this month.
Having qualified in seventh place, Turkington produced his usual quick start when the lights went out in race to quickly move ahead of Fabrizio Giovanardi and
Tom Onslow-Cole and in a race that featured little in the way of overtaking amongst the front-runners, he was able to fend off the challenge of Onslow-Cole to take fifth place and the Independents' win.
From fifth on the grid for race two, Turkington ran in fourth place before a Safety Car period and then moved into a podium position when Darren Turner was forced to slow with a puncture. When Gordon Shedden then ran wide at Coram, Turkington moved into second place behind
Jason Plato and held the position to the flag securing his second Indy win of the day in the process.
The reverse grid draw left Turkington seventh on the grid for race three and with extra success ballast on his car, he had to settle for sixth place in the final race after battling his way past the similar BMW of Rob Collard.
It's been another great day for Team RAC with two Independents victories and a podium finish overall, he said. There was plenty of action on the track with lots of incidents it was just a matter of steering clear of any trouble.
With Stephen Jelley securing his best result of the season in the final race with eighth place, and with Independents' points in all three races, team boss Dick Bennetts was pleased to also see his team move into the lead of the Indy teams' standings.
I'm very pleased all in all, he said. We have now achieved excellent reliability from the Team RAC BMWs and Colin has had five podium finishes in the last nine races.
