Newsham wins two at Silverstone, but Shepherd keeps the lead
Callum Newsham took two wins from three races in TCR UK’s event at Silverstone, while Adam Shepherd has retained the lead in the standings.
After setting pole position in his Area Motorsport CUPRA Leon VZ, Steven Laidlaw won Race 1 beating Newsham by inches; the pair encored in Race 2, but Newsham inherited victory following a penalty to Laidlaw. Eventually, the Scotsman drove his JH Racing Hyundai i30 N to win the last race from Laidlaw and Shepherd.
Shepherd, who had just swapped his Capture Motorsport-run Leon Competición for a newer Leon VZ, has now a 40-point lead over Steven Laidlaw, while Newsham has moved up to third with a gap of 56 points; Sam Laidlaw lies fourth, 63 points adrift.
Race 1 – Steven Laidlaw had topped qualifying, 42 thousandths faster than Newsham; Shepherd had been third fastest, but was sent to the back of the grid for changing car. Both drivers at the front made good starts and pulled away, running bumper-to-bumper for the whole race, with gaps that never exceeded four tenths. Newsham put constant pressure on Laidlaw who won by a quarter of a second. Sam Laidlaw raced by himself in third place, while Bradley Hutchison, Luke Sargeant and Shepherd were fighting for P4. Shepherd passed Sargeant in lap 8, but the latter retook fifth in lap 16.
Race 2 – Mark Smith was on pole with George Jaxon alongside; Smith led at the start from Sargeant and Rod McGovern who clashed with William Beech and went wide. At the end of the first lap, Steven Laidlaw and Hutchison who had started from P10 and P7 passed Smith moving up to first and second. At the back of the pack, Shepherd was recovering after stalling at the start from P5 on the grid. Newsham passed Sargeant in lap 2 and then Hutchison in lap 4, moving into second and resumed his duel with Laidlaw.
At the beginning of lap 11, Sargeant and Sam Laidlaw collided at Copse while fighting for P4 and both went off, causing a safety car period. Racing resumed with one lap to go; Newsham attempted an overtaking move but again he was beaten by Laidlaw to the line. However, Laidlaw was given a 2.4-second penalty for contact with Will Beech and dropped to P7 behind Beech himself. Newsham inherited the win, while Hutchison and Jaxon were elevated to second and third, which was Jaxon’s maiden podium.
Race 3 – Shepherd and Newsham shared the front row of the grid thanks to their second fast laps in qualifying. Newsham made the best start, while Steven Laidlaw from P3 jumped ahead of Shepherd who retook second at the end of lap 1 just before the safety car was deployed to recover Beech’s CUPRA from the gravel. The green flag was waved in lap 5, with Newsham leading closely followed by Shepherd, Steven and Sam Laidlaw all within one second. Positions did not change until lap 15, when Steven Laidlaw overtook Shepherd for second; Newsham took his second win of the day from Steven Laidlaw, while Shepherd kept Sam Laidlaw at bay for the third spot.
The next event takes place at Croft on 14/15 June.
Race 1
- Steven Laidlaw (Area Motorsport, CUPRA Leon VZ), 21 laps
- Callum Newsham (JH Racing, Hyundai i30 N), 0.252
- Sam Laidlaw (Area Motorsport, CUPRA Leon VZ), 2.797
Race 2
- Callum Newsham (JH Racing, Hyundai i30 N), 16 laps
- Bradley Hutchison (MPH Racing, CUPRA Leon Competición), 0.391
- George Jaxon (Vannin Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 0.674
Race 3
- Callum Newsham (JH Racing, Hyundai i30 N), 19 laps
- Steven Laidlaw (Area Motorsport, CUPRA Leon VZ), 2.129
- Adam Shepherd (Capture Motorsport, CUPRA Leon VZ), 2.923
Championship points
- A. Shepherd, 274 pts; 2. St. Laidlaw, 234; 3. C. Newsham, 218
Picture: TCR UK/Jakob Ebrey
