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SECOND ROW START FOR SEAT'S TURNER
14/10/2006
A misty and foggy Silverstone circuit this morning may have delayed the action for an hour or so, but it didn’t hold back Darren Turner when he took to the track for start of the final BTCC race weekend of the 2006 season.
The Oxfordshire-based driver was right on it and finished the first free practice session in 2nd place, just two hundredths of a second behind the Vauxhall of Fabrizio Giovanardi. In the second practice Darren was 7th, just one hundredth of a second behind his team mate James Thompson.
Qualifying was where it would count, and in dry and sunny conditions – the sun having burnt off the morning mist – Darren set the 4th fastest time of the 30-minute session, the fastest of the three SEAT Leons entered this weekend by SEAT Sport UK. It should be noted, however, that Darren is only carrying 9kg of ballast against James Thompson’s 45kg, the WTCC car being classified as “new” to the Championship and given a full allocation of ballast.
Despite his second row placing, Darren (ever the competitive driver) was less than satisfied with the outcome of the session. “It was very close and at one stage there were only thousandths of a second covering the top four. On my first run (when he set his fastest time) I made a bit of a mistake and didn’t get the best out of the car, so for the second run we fitted new tyres on the front but that didn’t seem to work too well.
“For the third and final run we put four new tyres on all round. The car felt good and I was happy. I had a very good out lap, and normally you gain a couple of tenths on the next one so I think we should have been able to do a 60.5 around the circuit, but I got into loads of traffic every time and it was hard work to get a clear lap. By the time I got a clear lap the tyres were gone so there wasn’t much I could do.
“It’s disappointing. I don’t think we would have got pole, but I think we should have been on the front row but it’s in a good position for the race and hopefully, with James quite close as well (in 7th), we can get a good result for the Manufacturers’ title chase. That’s my main priority for tomorrow.”
The races tomorrow are at 10.20, 12.50 and 16.45 and will be televised live on Motors TV plus recorded highlights/live 3rd race on ITV1.
Darren, 34, lives near Banbury in Oxfordshire. Successful in many different categories of motorsport, his most notable and high profile victories have been at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and in the British Touring Car Championship. He's a firm favourite with teams, fans, and media alike from around the world.
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