Team BMW's Colin Turkington has again shown his class and determination by winning Round 19 of the 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, securing a commanding a lights-to-flag triumph at Knockhill.
His 70th career victory in the opener at Croft last time out was supposed to signal his championship charge, although the remainder of the day in North Yorkshire didn't quite go to plan, but Turkington has ensured his season remains on-track with a dominant performance here at Knockhill.
"It always looks easy when you're six seconds up the road," said Turkington. "It was still difficult out there but when I saw there was a battle going on behind for second place, it enabled me to stride away into the distance. I'm very pleased to get on the top step here."
Josh Cook (LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ) grabbed a brilliant second place – coming to Knockhill following a first victory of the season at Croft – as the Toyota man made a great move on Team BMW's Adam Morgan in the Scottish curtain raiser.
Morgan claimed a first podium of the season with a pace and confidence that suggests the likeable Lancashire racer should be chasing more silverware during the remainder of the season.
Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing's Árón Taylor-Smith was muscled out of second in a scrap with Morgan and Cook, but fourth place again represented a good result for the Irishman.
It's not often you would say that Jake Hill (Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport) and Ash Sutton (NAPA Racing UK) would be content with fifth and sixth respectively, but the title chasing duo responded well after a difficult qualifying yesterday and both are nicely poised for the next two bouts.
Dan Rowbottom (NAPA Racing UK) was relegated to seventh at the finish, aiding team-mate Sutton's charge, whilst Rob Huff (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK), Dan Cammish (NAPA Racing UK) and Mikey Doble (Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing) rounded out the top ten.
Championship leader Tom Ingram (Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS) endured a bruising encounter and a rare DNF, meaning the title race has closed up even further with two races remaining today.
Race 1 - Knockhill - Classification:
P/ No/ Name/ Entry/ Laps/ Time/ Gap/ Best/ On/
1 20 Colin TURKINGTON Team BMW 24 20:53.082 51.300 3
2 66 Josh COOK LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ 24 21:01.390 8.308 51.555 4
3 33 Adam MORGAN Team BMW 24 21:02.199 9.117 51.443 3
4 40 Árón TAYLOR-SMITH Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing 24 21:03.155 10.073 51.563 2
5 24 Jake HILL Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport 24 21:03.585 10.503 51.765 4
6 1 Ashley SUTTON NAPA Racing UK 24 21:06.042 12.960 51.961 5
7 32 Daniel ROWBOTTOM NAPA Racing UK 24 21:06.847 13.765 51.648 6
8 12 Rob HUFF TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK 24 21:07.158 14.076 51.877 7
9 27 Dan CAMMISH NAPA Racing UK 24 21:08.114 15.032 51.996 5
10 88 Mikey DOBLE Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing 24 21:09.359 16.277 52.257 5
11 11 Andrew WATSON TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK 24 21:14.051 20.969 51.936 4
12 77 Sam OSBORNE NAPA Racing UK 24 21:15.852 22.770 51.833 8
13 222 Chris SMILEY Restart Racing 24 21:20.363 27.281 52.228 5
14 3 Tom CHILTON Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS 24 21:21.955 28.873 52.545 13
15 18 Daryl DELEON Duckhams Racing With Bartercard 24 21:26.837 33.755 52.622 6
16 16 Aiden MOFFAT LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ 24 21:29.273 36.191 52.544 4
17 14 Ronan PEARSON Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS 24 21:34.102 41.020 52.600 5
18 29 Scott SUMPTON Restart Racing 24 21:39.821 46.739 52.852 6
19 22 Nick HALSTEAD Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS 24 21:45.781 52.699 53.224 6
DNF 80 Tom INGRAM Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS 10 9:11.509 14 Laps 52.477 5
