Colin Turkington is hoping to stay in the British Touring Car Championship after splitting with Team BMR yesterday. The Northern Irish driver announced he was splitting with the team after it became unfeasible to stay and spoke to Overtake Motorsport about the decision.
Turkington said that he will look back on his two years with BMR fondly and the relationship with the team is still a good one, despite the split.
“I think, over the two years, I took nine wins and five poles, and some real special moments: taking the first ever pole for Subaru at Oulton Park and the first win,” he said. “The relationship is still very healthy between myself and the team, but it came to an end really for the benefit of both of us. It’s not how we envisioned it in the beginning but that’s what happened. We both wanted to move on.
“This is the time of the year when you put in all the dates and package back together and it became clear it wasn’t feasible this year… we’ve both realised that it’s not going to happen.”
There had been speculation that the reason for the split involved now former teammate Jason Plato, who pushed Turkington throughout the season and was criticised late in the year when he appeared to hinder Turkington’s chances at the title. But Turkington said the atmosphere at the team was positive in the lead up to the final round of the championship.
“From where we started at the beginning of the season: brand new car, no testing, we had to withdraw from Thruxton,” Turkington said. “So to go into Brands Hatch with both of us with a bit of a longshot at the title was a great achievement. We were both hungry for success but it was always going to be difficult to try and catch Sam and Gordon. They had quite a points advantage. But [the atmosphere] was really good.”
At the moment, Turkington is yet to secure a seat for the 2017 season, but he told Overtake Motorsport that he intends to stay in the BTCC, and he’s working hard to find a drive for his 13th season in the championship.
“At the moment, I’m keeping my options open,” he said. “I want to stay in touring cars. It’s where my whole career has been, either in Britain, or the World Championship, or in Scandinavia. I have my portfolio of partners that enjoy being in the BTCC so that’s where I want to stay.
“I’m negotiating hard to try and get myself back on the grid. The first race comes around quite quickly so the amount of available cars on the grid become less and less. I’m working hard to get something sorted out.”
Image credit: Caroline Rhea
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