Car safety concerns force Turkington off the grid

There was bitter disappointment for Colin Turkington at Thruxton with the entire Team BMR withdrawn due to safety concerns and with it goes the challenge for a third British Touring Car Championship title for the Portadown driver.
By The Newsroom
Published 9th May 2016, 06:20 BST
Colin Turkington (left) with Team BMR colleagues at the recent media day in preparation for this weekend's British Touring Car ChampionshipColin Turkington (left) with Team BMR colleagues at the recent media day in preparation for this weekend's British Touring Car Championship
Colin Turkington (left) with Team BMR colleagues at the recent media day in preparation for this weekend's British Touring Car Championship

Following an incident with the Subaru of James Cole at Donington Park, where there was a failure of the high pressure fuel rail, a re-designed and re-manufactured component was fitted to all cars for Thruxton.

A thorough review of the new design took place after qualifying and it was discovered that the new part was showing signs of fatigue.

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The team felt if this was left unchecked there was a risk of future failure.

The engineering team took the decision to withdraw the four cars.

On an area as critical as the fuel supply and with the safety of each driver paramount; the team came to the very difficult decision not to race the cars until a further solution has been manufactured and tested.

This is one of the worst things that can happen to a racing driver to have a car withdrawn from a race.

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Turkington and his three teammates would have wanted to race, but he agreed that it was the right decision.

“I would like to express my sincere apologies to my sponsors and my fans but we have made the right call,” commented Turkington.

Related topics:PortadownSubaru