The TCR UK Touring Car Championship will reach the midpoint of its 2024 season this weekend as the teams roll in to Croft in North Yorkshire for two days of action over 13-14 July.
This will be TCR UK’s fourth visit to the former airfield venue in the championship’s history after last year’s return ended a four-year absence – and went down a storm with the locals.
Leading the way heading into the event is Area Motorsport with Shepherd Motors driver Adam Shepherd. The 5G Communications-backed racer has had a fine first half of the season, winning four of eight races in his CUPRA Leon Competición TCR.
Among them was a fantastic drive last time out at Oulton Park when Shepherd bounced back from a trip through the gravel before charging to a convincing victory.
Shepherd will have a new team-mate in the Area Motorsport garages this weekend as Steve Laidlaw, who Shepherd coaches, takes over the second CUPRA run by the squad. In his debut TCR UK campaign, Laidlaw had previously been racing a Hyundai i30 N TCR, but now switches to the more modern car.
In his place, Laidlaw’s son Sam – who has been racing alongside his dad in the Audi TT Cup Racing support championship – slots into the Capture Motorsport-run Hyundai to make his TCR UK debut.
Reigning champion Carl Boardley has momentum on his side as he seeks to chase Shepherd down in the standings. The CBM with Hart GT driver had his best weekend of the season so far at Oulton Park, winning from pole position before following Shepherd home in the second race.
The squad has got to the bottom of the problems that had hampered his CUPRA Leon at the opening two weekends and has reduced his deficit to Shepherd to 28 points (before dropped scores are allowed for) heading into the weekend.
Boardley does, however, carry the maximum compensation weight this weekend, leaving his car 10kg heavier than his main rival.
The fourth CUPRA Leon in the field is driven by Brad Hutchison, who will be relishing the chance to race on his home circuit.
The Bond It with MPH Racing driver scored four consecutive podiums – including a maiden victory at Snetterton – before retiring from the second race at Oulton Park, so is clearly on strong form.
In the Hyundai camp are JH Racing duo Callum Newsham and Darron Lewis. Newsham has qualified in the top three at every weekend so far this season but hasn’t always enjoyed the best of fortune in races.
Oulton Park was a case in point as he was fired off in the opener before salving something from the day with fourth place later on.
Lewis meanwhile has been steadily growing in confidence each weekend as he adapts to his new ride and impressed many en route to a maiden podium last time out. The flipside of that form is that Lewis will be saddled with 30kg of compensation weight at Croft (compared with Newsham’s 10kg).
But the jovial West Midlander, who leads the Goodyear Diamond Award standings – for drivers aged 40 and over – is unlikely to let that bother him.
Also piloting a Hyundai this weekend is series boss Stewart Lines. The Maximum Motorsport man switches from the MPHR Audi he drove on his comeback at Oulton Park to an i30 run with the assistance of Jamsport.
Lines showed he’s lost none of his competitive edge and won’t be giving anyone an easy ride this weekend either.
Go-Fix Honda by Sport77 looks set to field only one of its Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCRs at Croft as team boss Will Powell sits this one out ahead of an anticipated machinery upgrade.
But Brad Thurston will have his second outing at the wheel of an FK7, looking to build on progress made at Oulton Park. The British Endurance champion was feeling very under-the-weather last month in Cheshire but the experience he gained of the car should stand him in good stead to hit the ground running at Croft.
Among the Gen 1 Cup for older machinery, it is EDF Motorsport’s Rick Kerry that currently leads the standings in his CUPRA TCR. The Suffolk racer has enjoyed a seesaw battle with Capture Motorsport team boss Will Beech in recent races so expect another ding-dong between the two this weekend.
Beech will be aiming to bounce back from a mixed weekend at Oulton Park, where he recorded his best overall finish before sustaining heavy damage later in the day. Mark Smith (Richmond Fire Motorsport CUPRA TCR) will also be in the mix.
After Oulton Park’s single-day double-header event, the championship reverts to its usual three-race weekend at Croft. The TCR UK cars will hit the track for the first time in qualifying at 1110hrs on Saturday morning, before Round 9 of the championship takes place that afternoon, with a scheduled start time of 1545hrs.
The hugely popular public grid walk also makes it return this weekend and will take place before TCR UK’s second race, Round 10 of the championship.
That has lights-out scheduled for 1210hrs on Sunday and has the extra element of featuring a reversed grid to add even more excitement into the racing. The weekend will conclude with Round 11 of TCR UK’s 2024 championship, timetabled for 1730hrs on Sunday.
As ever, all the action will be streamed live on the TCR UK YouTube channel, with expert commentary and analysis.
You can still purchase tickets for the next event of the 2024 season, at Croft, from their website: https://croftcircuit.co.uk/racing/brscc-tcr
To find out more about the TCR UK Touring Car Championship visit https://www.tcr-uk.co.uk/ for more information and how to get involved.
To learn more about the 2024 TCR UK Touring Car Championship Calendar events, visit https://www.tcr-uk.co.uk/2024-calendar/ for more information.
Stay tuned for news and updates regarding the 2024 season via our website and socials media channels:
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