Newsham, Boardley, and Laidlaw score wins at a wet Thruxton
TCR UK title rivals Callum Newsham and Carl Boardley won the first two races of TCR UK at Thruxton, while Steven Laidlaw secured his first win in the final race which saw most of the championship contenders run into trouble.
While Newsham won Race 1 from pole position, the Scottish driver had a disastrous Race 2 which led to a no-start in Race 3, dropping behind Bradley Hutchison in the standings. Hutchison goes to the season finale at Silverstone 46 points behind Boardley; Newsham’s hopes to clinch the title are now slimmer as his gap grew to 65 points, with 129 to be awarded in the last event.
Race 1 - The rain was a factor throughout the weekend, with Saturday morning’s qualifying disrupted twice with red flags. Adam Shepherd had set the fastest lap but lost it for having caused one of the reds. Newsham inherited the pole and led the way ahead of Shepherd at the start, while Boardley was passed by Steven Laidlaw at the first corner. Newsham was under pressure from Shepherd, until the recurrence of the power issue that plagued him last time at Donington Park forced him to slow. Newsham was able to control the race, while Laidlaw was chased by Boardley who eventually ran wide on the final corner and settled for third.
Race 2 - Mark Smith’s CUPRA lined up on pole on the reversed grid ahead of Stewart Lines’ Hyundai and Rick Kerry’s CUPRA, while Steven Laidlaw failed to get away from P9 for the formation lap and had to start from the pit lane. Lines overtook Smith at the start and then a multiple crash involved the Hyundai cars of Sam Laidlaw and Newsham, with the latter collecting Hutchison’s CUPRA before slamming into the barriers. The race was suspended behind the safety car before it was restarted on lap 4. Sam Laidlaw overtook Lines who dropped behind both Boardley and Shepherd. On lap 6, Shepherd made a move on Boardley to take second but then slowed again with a technical issue and retired. Boardley closed up on Sam Laidlaw and took the lead on lap 8, while Hutchison was up to third ahead of Lines. Boardley won the race ahead of Sam Laidlaw and Hutchison, while Steven Laidlaw got past Lines for fourth, which would then become third post-race when his son Sam’s car failed the ride height check, also promoting Hutchison to second.
Race 3 - Newsham was due to start from the pole, but with significant damage to the front section of his i30 and insufficient spares, he was forced to withdraw. This promoted Shepherd to an effective pole, while his team were still chasing down the fuel pick up issues which had caused him to slow in the first two races. Shepherd led into T1 ahead of Steven Laidlaw and Hutchison who lost third to Boardley. In lap 3, Shepherd retired once again, while Boardley went wide at Seagrave and dropped to fifth, picking up a load of wet grass in the radiator, which caused him to pit two laps later. Boardley rejoined, but with the race set to be one of his worst two results of the year and therefore one to be dropped, he finished one lap down. Steven Laidlaw controlled the race up front, while Hutchison successfully defended the second place from Lewis.
The final round of the season takes place at the Silverstone International circuit on October 19/20.
Thruxton – Race 1
- Callum Newsham (JH Racing, Hyundai i30 N), 15 laps
- Steven Laidlaw (Area Motorsport, CUPRA Leon Competición), 5.196
- Carl Boardley (CBM Hart GT, CUPRA Leon Competición), 5.995
Thruxton – Race 2
- Carl Boardley (CBM Hart GT, CUPRA Leon Competición), 13 laps
- Bradley Hutchison (MPH Racing, CUPRA Leon Competición), 11.183
- Steven Laidlaw (Area Motorsport, CUPRA Leon Competición), 12.322
Thruxton – Race 3
- Steven Laidlaw (Area Motorsport, CUPRA Leon Competición), 14 laps
- Bradley Hutchison (MPH Racing, CUPRA Leon Competición), 4.404
- Darron Lewis (DLR/JH Racing, Hyundai i30 N), 4.710
Championship points
- C. Boardley, 529 pts; 2. B. Hutchison, 483; 3. C. Newsham, 464
Picture: PSP Images
