The 'unsexy' way to win a title

By:

James Newbold

Oct 15, 2019, 2:04 PM

It's often maligned as the 'unsexy' way to win, but consistency is exceptionally difficult to achieve and should be celebrated. A multi-disciplinary panel of champions explains why.

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Colin Turkington's recent comment that his ultra-consistent British Touring Car Championship title-winning campaign in 2018 was "not the sexiest way to win a championship" was a fascinating insight into the mindset of racing drivers and the value they place on how they achieve success.

The Northern Irishman secured his third title in an attritional season that produced 17 different winners; he took to the top step of the podium only once in an elderly BMW 1 Series that was permanently laden with ballast and sluggish through the speed traps. But he relentlessly collected points and extracted the best from his package week after week.

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James Newbold Autosport Plus Editor

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James Newbold is Autosport's Plus Editor, responsible for coordinating website feature content.

In a sign of things to come, having completed his Politics and International Relations degree at the University of East Anglia in 2015, he left his graduation ceremony early to catch the last train to Brussels for the following day's Spa 24 Hours.

After a period as a freelancer, he joined the Autosport staff in 2018 and won the Motorsport UK young journalist of the year award. He initially edited Autosport magazine's Performance and Engineering supplements before joining the website team in his current role in 2020.

A keen enthusiast of anything that can be categorised unusual or niche, he enjoys unearthing little-known stories across all branches of motorsport, but has spent most of his career covering sportscars and is a regular part of the Le Mans 24 Hours reporting team.

He lives with his wife and children in Plymouth, England.