BTCC: Reigning Champ Turkington does Donington Double

2018 BTCC champion Colin Turkington rebounded from a difficult opening weekend at Brands Hatch to take two race victories at Donington Park and launch him up to third in the championship standings.

He set up his fantastic weekend by taking pole by over six tenths of a second in a rain-affected qualifying session ahead of then championship leader Josh Cook, who impressed carrying maximum ballast. Ash Sutton was disappointed it wasn’t a completely wet qualifying as he took third in his Subaru.

Race One

As expected, the rear-wheel drive BMW of Turkington flew away from pole as Sutton snuck past Cook into Redgate. All hell then broke lose at the old hairpin as Andy Jordan spun in the midfield, and was collected heavily by Adam Morgan, with Stephen Jelley, Ollie Jackson, Jake Hill and Matt Simpson all involved. This brought the safety car out for several laps as the heavily damaged BMW and Mercedes were taken away. Jordan’s car suffered too much damage and he withdrew from the remaining two races.

Turkington pulled a sizeable gap at the restart but it didn’t last long as Nic Hamilton was spun by Aiden Moffat into the tyre wall at pit entry and the safety car was back out again. Cook also got damage after contact with Sam Tordoff’s AmD Honda, meaning he finished a lap down after repairs.

The second restart saw Turkington again pull a big lead and he couldn’t be caught from there as Tordoff spun at the chicane from fourth. Turkington eventually took the chequered flag by 1.5 seconds from Sutton, with Tom Oliphant a quiet, yet impressive, third for his first BTCC podium. Matt Neal headed a four-car train for P4 ahead of Tom Ingram, Dan Cammish and Chris Smiley.

Podium: Turkington; Sutton; Oliphant

Race Two

The start saw Turkington again scarper away as his teammate briefly got ahead of Sutton before the 2017 champion re-took second at the old hairpin on lap one. Cammish was struck with a drive-through penalty for a start procedure fault but had to wait to serve it as Sam Osbourne was rear-ended by Mark Blundell at the back, which left the latter beached in the gravel at the chicane.

The restart saw Ingram lose a lot of places as he struggled on the less-favoured hard tyre but he regained one of the places he lost as Tordoff had his second spin of the day down the craner curves. Oliphant then lost third to a charging Neal on the exit of MacLeans with Tom Chilton also squeezing past. Rory Butcher managed to make his way past as well as Oliphant dropped like a stone. The safety car was again called upon when Smiley beached his Honda in the craner’s gravel trap with suspension damage but once again, no one could catch Turkington as the race got back underway and he went on to claim his second win of the day. Neal found a way past Sutton to snatch second late on.

Podium: Turkington; Neal; Sutton

Race Three

The reverse grid draw saw Ingram placed on pole ahead of Jake Hill who did a fabulous job in getting from 29th on the grid to 9th in race two. But he knew he’d struggle in this final race as he used the hard tyres whilst those around him had medium’s on. Ingram held the lead into turn one while Rob Collard took Cook at Redgate for third on an encouraging day for the Vauxhall’s.

Yet more crashes at the Craner’s as Team HARD’s Carl Boardley, Michael Crees and Jack Goff all had big – but separate – moments leaving them all out of the race, with Nic Hamilton an innocent party in Goff’s accident.

This brought the safety car out for the fifth and final time of the day and the restart saw both Collard and Cook get past Hill for second and third respectively. Hill eventually finished in sixth after Butcher and Sutton also found a way past. The gaps at the front though were large and Ingram took a lights-to-flag victory, a first for the Toyota Corolla and for Speedworks as a manufacturer. Collard was second from Cook, Butcher and Sutton.

Podium: Ingram; Collard; Cook

Heading to Thruxton for rounds 7,8 & 9 of the series, Ash Sutton leads the championship on 70 points, three clear of Josh Cook with Colin Turkington and Tom Chilton on 65 in third and fourth (Turkington ahead on countback). The ever-impressive Rory Butcher sits fifth, just a point off the two above him.