Turkington receives 17-second penalty for Sutton contact

Team BMW's Colin Turkington has been handed a 17-second post-race penalty for contact with defending champion Ash Sutton during the opening British Touring Car Championship race at Thruxton.

With Sutton leading Turkington into Campbell corner on lap one, Turkington made contact with the race leader whilst defending his own position against Josh Cook, which tipped Sutton's Infiniti into a spin down to the rear of the field.

Turkington went on to finish the opening race in fourth position, but the four-time champion was called to the stewards following the race, where he was given a 17-second time penalty.

That has dropped Turkington to tenth in the race one classification, directly behind Sutton, who finished tenth on the road. 

As a result, Dan Cammish, Rory Butcher, Jason Plato, Dan Rowbottom and Sutton all move up a position in the race order, with Turkington dropping back to tenth.

Turkington will start race two alongside Sutton in tenth.