Carl Boardley and Alex Ley win feisty races at Silverstone
Carl Boardley has further solidified his lead in TCR UK after a race win in the opening round at Silverstone this weekend, while Alex Ley powered through from 11th to first in the second of two very incident-heavy races run at the short National circuit layout.
Race 1 - Area Motorsport teammates Adam Shepherd and Bruce Winfield had locked out the front row in Saturday’s qualifying session. Shepherd held the lead at the start, while Scott Sumpton overtook Winfield to move up to P2, but he was soon muscled out of the way at Brooklands by Boardley, with Winfield going back through to third.
Winfield’s race ended on lap 8, as he pitted with broken suspension, promoting Sumpton back up to third. Cottam tried to go around of Sumpton at Brooklands but ran wide at Luffield as Jenson Brickley charged through the pair of them. Sumpton retook the position with contact again at Brooklands a lap later, but then found himself under attack from Joe Marshall, who took the third spot at Copse on lap 12, with Sumpton shuffled down the order.
Shepherd then retired from the lead with a technical issue on lap 15, which handed Boardley a comfortable lead over Marshall and Bradley Kent, with Brickley closing in behind. An almighty battle ensued, with Kent briefly taking second from Marshall, before Brickley drove right around him, and then Kent found himself moved out the way by the two Audi cars of Marshall and Jac Constable, before crashing out with a puncture on lap 21. The race then settled down with Boardley taking a comfortable win ahead of Brickley and Marshall.
Race 2 – The top ten were reversed, which put Matthew Wilson on pole ahead of Sumpton. Sumpton got the jump on Wilson at the start, while at Beckett’s there was a three-car incident involving Callum Newsham, Chris Smiley and Bradley Hutchison, with the latter spinning across the nose of Newsham’s car and into Smiley’s. Smiley was sent into the barriers and the race was red-flagged. Sumpton was on pole for the shortened restarted race ahead of Wilson and Ley, who had managed to get to third in all the fracas. Ley dispatched Wilson at Beckett’s before making slight contact with Sumpton at Brookland’s, sending the Honda driver wide. Sumpton rejoined in tenth, while Ley assumed the lead. Oliver Cottam was now in third and soon passed Wilson, closing on Ley. However, Cottam was then passed by a charging Kent at Beckett’s on lap 9, but Kent stopped a lap later, handing second back to Cottam.
Cottam’s race lasted only five more laps until he slowed with a problem on lap 15 and retired, with Brickley now assuming second ahead of Wilson, which was how they would finish the race. Boardley’s car was damaged from contact with Brickley earlier in the race and he managed to finish eighth. After the race, Brickley was handed a six-place penalty for the incident with Boardley at the start, which promoted Wilson to second and Winfield to third, and dropped Brickley behind Boardley.
Boardley continues to lead the championship now on 305 points, with Winfield 36 points behind.
The next event takes place at Donington Park on September 9/10.
Silverstone – Race 1
- Carl Boardley (CBM with Hart GT, CUPRA Leon Competición), 26 laps
- Jenson Brickley (J. Brickley Racing, CUPRA Leon Competición), 2.737
- Joe Marshall (Rob Boston Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS II), 5.041
Silverstone – Race 2
- Alex Ley (Area Motorsport, Hyundai i30 N), 16 laps
- Matthew Wilson (JWB Motorsport, CUPRA Leon Competición), 3.451
- Bruce Winfield (Area Motorsport, Hyundai i30 N), 10.936
Championship points
- C. Boardley, 305 pts; 2. B. Winfield, 269; 3. A. Ley, 241
Picture: Jakob Ebrey
