TURKINGTON SET TO BLOSSOM

Not for Turkington the regular life of gym work and feet up to watch a film to pass the days between races.

The 26-year-old Team RAC driver, third in the Dunlop British Touring Car Championship in 2006, likes to keep busy working as a gardener. And doing maintenance work in his father’s construction business is the best way to make money and stay fit.

In his six years in touring cars, he has combined driving with university and has a degree in Business Studies to go with his Masters in racing.

“I’ve got a spade in my hand right now,” he said during a break in home-town Portadown in Northern Ireland. “My ambitions are all in car racing but if something happened, I have the degree to fall back on.

“I’m looking to be a contender for the championship. We had a great start with getting pole at Brands Hatch but problems with the car cost me in the other two meetings.

I’ve got a spade in my hand right now

Turkington

“There’s a long way to go and with four or five top teams fighting it out, who knows. This weekend at Thruxton is about the fastest circuit we race. I like the ones where you have to fasten the seat belt a bit tighter.”