The 2024 TCR UK Touring Car Championship season heads towards the finishing straight as the penultimate race weekend of the season takes place at Thruxton this weekend (21-22 September).
TCR UK’s first-ever visit to the circuit renowned as the fastest in Britain will feature Rounds 15, 16 and 17 of the championship. Reigning champion Carl Boardley will look to strengthen his grip on the title race, but with no one having raced these cars at the Hampshire venue before, the form book could go out the window.
Boardley’s CBM Motorsport with Hart GT-run CUPRA Leon Competición TCR, four times a race winner this year, leads the standings by 16 points heading into the event.
Boardley hasn’t been off the podium in his past eight races and also has some very handy dropped scores – unlike his chief rivals – to fall back on, should things not go to plan at Thruxton. But with more experience than most of his rivals of the airfield venue, Boardley will have no intention of resting on his laurels – even while carrying the maximum 40kg of compensation weight.
A fantastic summer has catapulted Callum Newsham into second in the points after scoring two wins and three further podiums at Croft and Silverstone.
The JH Racing driver is flying the flag for Hyundai, piloting the venerable Hyundai i30 N TCR at the front of the field, and has emerged as Boardley’s closest challenger. Despite his form, Newsham will be laden with 20kg less compensation weight than Boardley and will aim to capitalise.
Bond It with MPH Racing’s Brad Hutchison lies third in the championship standings, some 51 off the summit. All season long, the ever-smiling Yorkshireman has refused to rule himself out of the title hunt, proving it with a remarkably consistent streak of eight podium finishes in nine races.
In fact, only Boardley has stood on the podium more often than his fellow CUPRA driver. But realistically, Hutchison will need to significantly outscore both Boardley and Hutchison this weekend to give himself a fighting chance of snatching the crown at the Silverstone finale next month.
Early-season pacesetter Adam Shepherd has slipped to fourth in points table after a pair of disastrous weekends at Croft and Silverstone.
Almost everything that could go wrong has gone wrong for the multiple tin-top champion whose CUPRA Leon Competición TCR is run by the family Shepherd Motors squad in conjunction with Area Motorsport. But no matter what adversity he faces, Shepherd always finds a way to be on the pace.
With the benefit of no compensation weight to lug around Thruxton’s fast sweeps, Shepherd will be going all out for race wins as he seeks to rekindle his fading title hopes.
Also running from the Area Motorsport awning is Steve Laidlaw’s similar car. In only four weekends in the championship – the first of which was in a Hyundai i30 N TCR – Laidlaw has certainly made his mark and scored a maiden podium last time out at Silverstone.
Laidlaw’s son Sam will once again make it a family affair by piloting the Capture Motorsport Hyundai his dad vacated. Entering just his third weekend in TCR UK, the former Audi TT Cup racer has shown plenty of promise that should set him in good stead if he returns for a full-season campaign next year.
For some observers, Darron Lewis has been the revelation of the season aboard his JH Racing-run Hyundai. Benefiting from a well-sorted car that allows him to focus on his own driving, Lewis has twice been on the podium, including a career-best second place at Silverstone last month.
It means he lies fifth in the overall standings, as well as leading the way in the Goodyear Diamond Award for drivers aged 40 and over.
Series promoter Stewart Lines gets back behind the wheel again this weekend as he races a third different car in four events. Lines will step up to pukka Gen 2 machinery at Thruxton where he drives the Audi RS3 LMS TCR raced last time out by Luke Sargeant.
The head honcho came close to breaking into the top six at Silverstone, and will be looking to take the challenge to fellow West Midlander Lewis for Goodyear Diamond Award honours.
It’s very tight at the top of the Gen 1 Cup for older cars – as it has been all season long. Heading into Thruxton, it’s EDF Motorsport’s Rick Kerry (CUPRA TCR) who leads the way.
The Suffolk man is just nine points clear of Capture Motorsport’s Will Beech (Volkswagen Golf GTI) so it’s all to play for. Third-placed Mark Smith will also be back in his Richmond Fire-backed CUPRA TCR after missing the last round.
Former motorcycle racer Cedric Bloch makes a second appearance in his Simon Green Motorsport with Sport77 Audi RS3. Racing with hand controls after a horrific British Supersport crash at Snetterton three years ago left him paralysed, Bloch impressed on debut last time out.
His pace got to within a second of the other Gen 1 Cup runners, despite having never previously raced a front-wheel-drive car. Bloch’s track time was also limited by mechanical woes so, if the car remains healthy, expect further progress this weekend.
The weekend’s action begins with qualifying at 0900hrs on Saturday morning, ahead of Round 15 of the championship at 13h35. Two further races take place on Sunday.
Following the always-popular popular public gridwalk, Round 16 – the reversed-grid race – will get underway at 1500hrs. The action concludes with Round 17 of the championship at 1730hrs on Sunday.
For those unable to make it to Thruxton, all the action will be streamed live on TCR UK’s YouTube channel, with expert commentary and analysis.
You can purchase tickets for the next event of the 2024 season, at Thruxton, from their website: https://thruxtonracing.co.uk/racing/brscc
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.
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