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BTCC round 16, 17 and 18

Here's all the high speed on track action from the ultra-fast Snetterton circuit. Again, SEAT ace Darren Turner gives us an insight to the ups and downs of a race weekend.

My last race before last weekend’s HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship rounds was at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I won the GT1 class for Aston Martin Racing for the second year in a row so was hoping the winning ways – and great feeling it brings – would carry on for Snetterton in Norfolk.

It was close, but not quite close enough. JP and I were really quick all weekend and topped the timesheets in practice and qualifying. Race one was pretty much how you’d write it down on a piece of paper – perfect. We were surprised how quick the Hondas were, but Jason and I were able to keep ahead of them and get a one-two finish, with me holding grid position according to team orders, and both of us scoring the sort of big points in the Championship tables that we were looking for. I also broke the lap record on the way which just proved how good the car was.

What should have been a great points haul in all three races unfortunately failed to materialise as a puncture five laps before the end of the second race robbed us of a certain second place finish. It was a bit ironic really. I had the live mike to ITV this weekend and, as we’d had a safety car period, I’d just finished speaking to Ben Edwards saying ‘All’s well and we should have another one-two’ when I picked up the puncture and it was game over.

I had to start from 19th on the grid for race three which was always going to be a tall order but I had a good couple of opening laps and was fired up to get as high as possible. Then an electrical misfire kicked in (also on JP’s car) and I had to cruise around for the remainder of the race, some 10 seconds a lap off the pace, so that at least we could pick up some manufacturer points. It was a hugely disappointing way to finish what should have been a great weekend.

Darren Turner