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RAIN STOPS PLAY AT DONINGTON
15/07/2007
No, it wasn’t cricket, it was an intensely wet Donington Park; and the ‘play’ was for top points-scoring finishes. A sure second place was there for the taking in the first of today’s three, rain-sodden, BTCC races at Donington until the skies opened even further. Running with a set up on his Leon which was more suited to a track with less standing water, Darren was speared off the track just three laps from the chequered flag when the differential locked up on his SEAT Leon and the engine died, causing him to overshoot the chicane and dropping him from the second place he’d been holding since the start to finish a lowly 12th.
The weekend had started well with a front row qualifying position – continuing Turner’s brilliant qualifying record of a place within the top four at every BTCC round so far this year. “It was a good session, and I’m very pleased for the team,” said Darren afterwards. “Last year, here at Donington, was the worst weekend we had in terms of car performance so the development work done by the team over the winter has made a big difference at a circuit that we had a good deal of apprehension about visiting. To be honest, I was quite surprised by the lap time. It was one of those nice laps which felt tidy and flowed well, but I’ve often had one of those laps and the time didn’t reflect it, so it was nice to see it all come together. We thought we’d qualify around eighth on the grid, so second was really great.”
In contrast to the dry and blustery practice and qualifying day on Saturday, it was raining from the start of race day on Sunday. After the disappointment of Race 1’s result, Darren was determined to make up as much ground as possible in Race 2 in order to boost SEAT Sport UK’s bid to regain the lead in the Teams’ Championship. He drove a steady race from 12th on the grid through the treacherous conditions to finish in a fighting 6th place.
The random grid selection placed him in fourth place on the grid for Race 3 and Darren made a great start to move into second place, a position he held for the first seven laps. “But then my windscreen wipers packed up,” said DT. “It made it difficult when I was just behind Mike Jordan but, with only one car ahead of me, it wasn’t impossible. Then Jason caught me and, as I wasn’t in complete, total control of the car, because I couldn’t see exactly where I was going, I wasn’t in a position to fight. Visibility got worse and worse, and I got more and more frustrated as I was getting slower and slower and I just dropped back to finish in 9th.
“On a positive note, Jason had two fantastic results and has retaken the lead in the Drivers’ standings, we’ve taken the lead in the Teams’ and closed the gap in the Manufacturers’ – all at a circuit which historically hasn’t been good for SEAT. I haven’t got the results I was personally hoping for, but the important thing is that it’s been a great weekend for the team.”
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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