Darren Turner says he’s going into this weekend’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car rounds at Oulton Park with a big weight off his shoulders after breaking his victory duck in the championship at Croft – and then winning again in the Le Mans 24 Hours.
SEAT ace Turner finally achieved his maiden BTCC race win three weeks ago at Croft. Last weekend, the 33-year-old won the coveted GT1 category for Aston Martin in the world-famous Le Mans race in France.
But for all his experience and success – during the last decade Turner has competed at international level and been a test driver for McLaren’s Formula 1 team – he says that first BTCC win means just as much as if he were a young, up-and-coming driver.
“I’m not super human. Getting that first win still has an effect,” said the Leamington-Spa driver. "Even just a few hours later, going out for race three at Croft, I felt more relaxed. The pressure had gone.
“That pressure had been extending to my engineer and mechanics. But suddenly we could sit back and say we had won. On the grid we were all more relaxed together.”
Turner’s win at Croft capped what was by far his most impressive BTCC meeting so far – he qualified third (keeping up his 100 per cent top three qualifying record in 2007) and scored more points than any other driver across the three races.
But some ill fortune, notably when his car failed to start after he’d qualified it on pole position at Rockingham, has held him back, although he’s now worked his way up to fifth in the standings. Still, though, he has close to only half the points of either team-mate Jason Plato and Vauxhall’s Fabrizio Giovanardi who lead the series.
He added: “It’s taken a little bit longer to get into the fight in the BTCC than I’d hoped. After Brands Hatch I was only tenth in the championship, but now I’m slowly clawing my way back up. There’s only a small chance of being in contention for the title at the end and with Jason and Fabrizio having such a hold it’s hard to see anyone else now catching up. I just need to score as many points as possible and say the second half of my season was good.
“After winning at Croft, I now want as many wins as I can before the end of the season. Not just ‘win and bust’ either – it needs to be win and score as many points as possible around that, similar to Croft which was close to being my perfect weekend. Oulton will be a similar mentality. If a win comes then great, but it’s not the single thing I’m chasing.
“I love having the competition. Some drivers just like to have the best car and dominate, come up, get their trophy and go home. I want to fight for success. If you have a proper battle and come out on top it’s a great feeling. Even if you come off second best it’s still good to have had a real fight.”
