TURKINGTON FEELING RACY AHEAD OF SNETTERTON
As he prepares for battle at Snetterton, Norfolk this Sunday
(13 August), Colin Turkington has confidently said he won't
let an extra team-mate for title rival Matt Neal put him off
his bid to become the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship's
youngest ever champion.
Neal's Team Halfords squad has confirmed it will enter a
third Honda Integra for the remainder of the season for youngster
Gareth Howell, starting at Snetterton. Turkington, who drives
for the Team RAC MG team, currently lies second in the standings,
between Neal and Halfords' new recruit for 2006, Gordon Shedden.
But Turkington, from Portadown, said: "It's obvious
why they've brought in Gareth for the final four meetings,
but it doesn't bother me.
"I'm actually pleased they're bringing out a third car
because it shows that they are very aware of our threat.
"They've obviously got frightened by our pace and Matt
feels he needs a bit of back-up. Gareth's there to take points
off me or Jason (Plato).
"I'm now fighting three Hondas instead of two, but we've
got a very racy car and I intend making the most of it."
Northern Irishman Turkington, who aged 24 could this year
become the youngest driver to lift the BTCC Champion's crown,
is currently 22 points behind Neal with 12 races still to
go.
Prior to Donington that gap had been 37 points but a second
win of the season and a poor result for Neal proved how quickly
fortunes can change.
Turkington added: "My plan is to do what I did at Donington
- qualify on the front row of the grid and hit the podium
as many times as I can in the three races.
"I'm on a high after my Donington win and seeing Matt
slip up there was a bonus. We've had our fair share of misfortune
but this time we scored 15 points more than him.
"I don't expect to take that many points out of him
at every meeting, but if we can keep the momentum going I'm
confident we could bring it down by another five or six points.
If we can do that on a circuit where we think the Honda could
be strong that would be a good weekend."
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