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‘Tough qualifying session’ for Team BMW and Colin Turkington

Colin Turkington and Team BMW face an uphill task in their British Touring Car Championship title fight on Sunday, after a difficult qualifying session saw the Northern Irishman end up in 17th on the grid.

Team BMW endured an anxious hour around qualifying on Saturday, with the team’s second car being withdrawn in the minutes leading up to the session when Rob Collard was ruled out on medical grounds.

That left Turkington as the sole representative of Team BMW, with BMW Pirtek Racing’s Andrew Jordan being in the sister team.

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Turkington then endured an electrical issue half-way through the qualifying session, leaving the two-time champion unable to get on track until the very end of the session, when he put in a lap time good enough for only 17th.

With title rival Ash Sutton putting his Subaru in third for race one, Turkington faces a difficult prospect to overturn the ten-point deficit on Sunday.

“That was a tough qualifying session,” said Turkington. “I had an issue with my car from the first lap, but the guys did a terrific job to get me back on track for the second half of the session.

“Seventeenth isn’t where we should be, but it’s still halfway up the grid and a lot better than being at the back.

“Today wasn’t our day, but we’ll keep trying our very best right to the end and tomorrow is where you score the points, so we’re still in this. I can feel the speed is in the car; we just needed another run to unlock it, so this is positive for tomorrow.”

WSR team Principal Dick Bennetts acknowledges that his team face a ‘big challenge’ in Sunday’s races after being on the back foot throughout qualifying.

“Today has been an extremely tough day for the team,” said Bennetts. “Colin’s car suffered an electronic issue in practice and then in qualifying, which cost him time in both sessions.

“The team did a fantastic job to get the BMW back on track, which allowed him to qualify halfway up the grid.

“[Race day] will be a big challenge, but we have three championships to play for and we’ll give it everything we have.”

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