Colin Turkington fired up for BTCC season opener at Thruxton

The Team BMW driver says he remains as fired up as ever going into the first race of the new campaign and expects the championship fight to be as tough as ever.

“No matter how many years you’ve been in this series, something in the air changes in the build up to the first race weekend,” said the Northern Ireland man.

“The driver shuffle and car upgrades are feeding the anticipation too, because there are even more unknowns than usual.

“The group tests have revealed how competitive this season is going to be, and I think that adds to the excitement for the fans.

“Every new season is another chance at moving the game on, and improving. But as team personnel move about the paddock, the standards continue to rise in every team,” Turkington added.

“This makes finding the margins even more challenging. I expect the title fight in 2021 to be another box office hit.”

Assessing his prospects for the first races of 2021 at Thruxton, Turkington says the key will be a fast start in practice and qualifying on Saturday in readiness for Sunday’s three races.

“Thruxton is a challenge, but even more so depending on how much success ballast you arrive with. “Qualifying without that will be a help for us, but we need to roll out sharp and on the money with our setup on Saturday morning. This will be key,” he said.

“The success ballast for a win is back up to 75kgs, so I expect plenty of action throughout the three races. The lighter cars are more likely to make progress through the pack in race two and three.

“Up until now, we’ve been in a different mentality, but this is the point when that changes.”

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