Colin Turkington, 2009 Champion - Q&A

Colin Turkington admitted his dreams had come true after taking the BTCC title for the first time at Brands Hatch.

Shortly after receiving his trophy, the new champion spoke to Crash.net's Matt Salisbury about how he was feeling...

Crash.net:
Colin, we've congratulated you as the Independents' Champion before but now you are the overall title winner. How do you feel?

Colin Turkington:
Incredible. It's been the dream for so many years. The Indy title was the stepping stone to the overall crown for me and my ambition in life has been to win this. To finally conquer your dream is an unbelieavable feeling. Its such satisfaction.

Crash.net:
How much does it mean to the team?

Colin Turkington:
It's massive. West Surrey Racing has been in the championship from something like 1996 and has been close before and I have been in the BTCC since 2002 - and with them for all but one year. To win it with Dick Bennetts, Mike Ewan and the team is fantastic. It's been my life long dream and I'm so happy for them as well.

Crash.net:
You've fulfilled this dream, so what's the next one? To win it again?

Colin Turkington:
I don't have one. This is all I ever wanted, so I could retire now!

Crash.net:
A lot of people said it was a two-horse race going into this weekend and that Jason was out of it, but in the first two races, he got himself right back into so that there was no margin for error in the final race...

Colin Turkington:
It was never a two-horse race, it was always three. We knew Jason had a fast car and he was a threat to the finish. It was difficult because fighting with Fabrizio was hard enough, so to throw Jason in as well - they are two tough guys. We had to be at the top of our game.

Crash.net:
Matt [Neal] was backing the pack up in the final race and there was contact at Druids. Were you hearing noises for the rest of that lap and worrying about the car?

Colin Turkington:
Yeah. When I passed Matt I picked up some damage to the left rear and I was really concerned because I picked up a lot of oversteer. After a few laps, I got the feeling of it again and was able to drive round it.

Crash.net:
Back to defend it next year?

Colin Turkington:
Maybe, I hope so.