Turkington 'ready' for title showdown

Team BMW's Colin Turkington has declared himself ready to wrap up this season's British Touring Car Championship crown at this weekend's Brands Hatch finale.

The BMW 125i M Sport driver goes into the final round with a commanding 34-point championship lead over his nearest rival Tom Ingram and stands on the cusp of clinching his third BTCC title with the West Surrey Racing squad.

“I’m counting down the days to Brands Hatch; I’m just so ready. Yes, there will be pressure, but if you’ve prepared mentally and physically, you have nothing to worry about," said Turkington.

"It takes years of experience and mental training to be able to control the emotions that creep in on these big days, but needing to go out and do the job ignites another level of performance from me.

"I’ve had some of the best races of my career at this circuit and I’ll be doing everything I can to improve on that."

This time last year, Turkington endured a weekend of contrasting emotions after one of the finest drives of his career with a breathtaking win in race two was followed by a heartbreaking retirement during the final race, which cost the Team BMW driver a chance of the title against Ashley Sutton.

"As a team we’ve been in constant dialogue since Silverstone and we’re leaving nothing to chance. I’m confident in the BMW and the exceptional team I have around me," Turkington continued.

"Believe me, after the disappointment of last year, we’re going all-out to come home with the trophy.”

Once again, Turkington will be parterned by Ricky Collard at Team BMW for the fourth meeting in succession, while Rob Collard continues to recover to full race fitness following his Snetterton shunt earlier in the season.

Having secured his maiden podium finish last time out at Silverstone, Collard Jr will continue to aid Turkington's title charge.

“Since coming into Team BMW, my role has been to learn the car, do whatever I can to support Colin in his quest for the Drivers’ title and score as many points as possible for the Teams’ Championship," said Collard.

"Nothing changes at Brands Hatch in that respect, although with the results we achieved at Silverstone, I’m placing far more expectation on myself.

"We’re coming into the weekend leading all three championships and we intend to win them too. That’s going to take a lot of focus and hard work, but that’s something this team knows all about. We’re in a good position.”