Turkington: "It was one of the drives of my life"
With three rounds of racing remaining, 2014 BTCC leader and eBay Motors man Colin Turkington reflects on one of the races of his life at Knockhill, and admits he sees striking similarities between this season and 2009, when he was crowned champion.
You were newly married the last we spoke, so how is married life treating you so far?
Fine so far. I don't appear to have lost any speed which is most import! We had a short honeymoon after Snetterton. Everything's going well.
Considering how the first race at Knockhill went, did you expect to keep the 23 point Championship lead?
No. I was frustrated not to finish race one, my goal for race two was to try and get into the top ten, to have a chance of the reverse grid, but the car was unbelievably strong in that race and passed 23 cars. It was a big effort, it really did rescue my weekend.
Was that one of the drives of your life?
Under the circumstances, I think it was. My back was against the wall, and needed a big result. It's difficult to put in performances like that when you really need it, and particularly this season with the cars so evenly matched it's not always easy to progress through the pack, but it was definitely up there with some of my best.
How disappointed were you with the eight point grid penalty at Snetterton?
It definitely hurt us. I think the incident at Snetterton, I have to take part of the blame for that, so there is a penalty, which really did hamper us at Knockhill. The plus side was that I was able to keep my race three result at Snetterton, and keep the points. It probably cost me a bag full of points at Knockhill, that's the ups and downs of BTCC.
To be crowned BTCC champion, do you think it's necessary to be aggressive at times?
Definitely, in touring cars you have to be aggressive, you always have to be on the attack, but we all know a big part of the game is getting to the finish of races. It's really a fine line between driving attack minded but also driving clean and getting your car over the line in one piece. If you're not attacking in BTCC you're getting shuffled backwards through the pack.
When it comes to the crunch, can you expect any help from team-mate Rob Collard in races?
Well, Rob's confidence is going to be high after winning race three at Knockhill, it's great to have team-mates up there with you, taking points off the other main rivals, we're leading the overall teams championships, so hopefully the three of us can stay at the top of the grid in the last few races, and I think it can benefit us all.
The championship race is less open than the last time we spoke – is it fair to say it's now a three man race?
After one more weekend, we can maybe start writing people in or out, but there's just so many points available next weekend. There's over 60 points available on a given race weekend, so the balance of power can swing so much. At this stage nobody's out of it and that's my view on it. I'm not looking at it as a three horse race just yet.
Does it feel any different now than it did in 2009, going into the last few rounds?
It's very similar, actually. This 2014 season has almost been a mirror image of 2009. I took the Championship lead around the same time, I won twice at Oulton and twice at Croft, to really build my lead and it's what has happened this year as well. To be able to draw on that experience, and I've been in the position before so I know what I have to do to win.
Jason Plato has been vocal on his frustrations regarding the regulations and rear wheel drive cars. Where do you stand on the debate?
I don't think there is much of a debate. When you look at the championship table, it's so close. When you look at Snetterton, the front wheel drive cars won all three races and the first two races at Knockhill as well. Each car has strengths and weaknesses, and there's trickier circuits for certain cars. I think over the course of the season I think it definitely evens itself out.
Are you looking forward to Rockingham and confident of more podium finishes?
We managed to get on the podium there last year with a developing car. The competition is probably even more fierce this year but Rockingham is all about the chassis, and how well the car can work in the infield section and that's somewhere we've made huge strides forward. We expect to be strong, we've been at the sharp end of every race this year. I think we'll definitely be up there challenging.
Your son Lewis seems to really enjoy supporting you at races, do you watch the highlights back together?
I don't, but I get so much feedback on social media and people that I'm talking to about Lewis about how involved he gets in the whole day. Obviously, he's my number one fan, we cannot leave until the cars are packed away in the truck, because he has help out packing everything away, and I'm just so pleased that he's able to experience me racing and hopefully he'll remember this in years to come.
Presumably that will make it extra special for you if you manage to hang onto this Championship lead?
Yeah, his first race was actually at the Brands Hatch final in 2009, he was four months old, he didn't remember that one, so it'll be nice to give him one to remember.
Win an exclusive £10,000 makeover for your car and a hot lap with Colin Turkington with eBay Motors. Simply register your vehicle at