Adam Shepherd just two points from TCR UK title after race one win

Adam Shepherd needs just two points from Sunday’s TCR UK finale, after claiming victory in the opening race of the weekend at Brands Hatch on Saturday.

Shepherd had earlier in the day put his Capture Motorsport CUPRA on pole position by more than two tenths of a second from title rival Callum Newsham, and he duly went on to convert that into a lights-to-flag win.

Shepherd made a good start from fellow front-row starter Newsham, and pulled out a gap of just two tenths of a second before the race was neutralised on lap three when Harry Bloor spun his CUPRA into the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend, having lost his car on cold tyres.

After five laps behind the safety car, series rookie Jenson O’Neill-Going then pulled his Subaru off the circuit with technical troubles, which resulted in a red flag when the WRX STi needed to be itself recovered, having suffered from an onboard fire, the culmination of issues O’Neill-Going had faced all weekend with overheating in the ageing Gen 1 car.

Racing resumed on lap ten, and Shepherd made a good restart to pull over a second clear of Newsham, who subsequently put in a series of fastest laps but never closed in enough on Shepherd to challenge for the win.

Shepherd took his 14^th win in the series to draw level with Lewis Kent on the all-time winners list, 1.7 seconds clear of Newsham.

Area Motorsport’s Sam Laidlaw completed the podium in third – the only Laidlaw racing this weekend as his father Steve is unable to attend due to business commitments.

Bradley Hutchison brought his CUPRA home in fourth after a last-lap battle with George Jaxon in the newer Leon, as Jaxon finished in fifth.

Luke Sargeant was sixth in the Vannin Motorsport Audi, ahead of Capture Motorsport driver Will Beech’s CUPRA in seventh.

Rick Kerry was eighth in the Hyundai i30 N TCR which he acquired from the Newsham family this weekend, with the top ten completed by Mark Smith and Gregory Saunders, giving the latter pole for race two.

BSR’s Max Hall had been running in sixth before pitting with an issue three laps from the finish, and he then stopped in the pit exit with steam coming from his Lynk & Co after attempting to rejoin the race on the last lap.

Race two is scheduled to get underway at 15:00 BST on Sunday.

Race result

POS	NO	CL	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	117			Adam SHEPHERD	Capture Motorsport	CUPRA Leon VZ TCR	20	29:39.600	48.299	1
2	16			Callum NEWSHAM	JH Racing	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	20	1.757	48.268	2
3	101			Sam LAIDLAW	Area Motorsport	CUPRA Leon VZ TCR	20	5.714	48.465	4
4	17			Bradley HUTCHISON	Bond It with MPH Racing	CUPRA Leon Competición TCR	20	11.783	48.847	6
5	28			George JAXON	Vannin Motorsport	CUPRA Leon VZ TCR	20	11.910	48.619	5
6	115			Luke SARGEANT	Vannin Motorsport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR II	20	16.923	49.248	8
7	27			Will BEECH	Capture Motorsport	CUPRA Leon Competición TCR	20	20.048	49.301	7
8	22			Rick KERRY	JH Racing	Hyundai i30 N TCR	20	22.956	49.732	11
9	77			Mark SMITH	BSR with Richmond Fire Motorsport	CUPRA Leon Competición TCR	20	36.362	50.417	15
10	34			Gregory SAUNDERS	Capture Motorsport	CUPRA Leon Competición TCR	20	36.495	50.312	14
11	50			Darelle WILSON	DW Racing / Trade Nation / Aalco	Vauxhall Astra TCR	20	45.642	50.327	12
12	96			Jordan KERRIDGE	Vannin Motorsport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR II	20	48.060	50.156	10
13	12			Cedrich BLOCH	Simon Green Motorsport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	19	+ 1 LAP	52.115	17
14	93			Max HALL	BSR	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	18	DNF	48.686	3
15	19			Jeffrey ALDEN	Matrix Motorsport	Opel Astra TCR	18	+ 2 LAPS	58.952	18
16	7			Alex JONES	DW Racing	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	12	DNF	52.248	16
17	272			Jenson O’NEILL-GOING	Jamsport Racing	Subaru WRX STi TCR	5	DNF	50.669	13
18	11			Harry BLOOR	Vannin Motorsport	CUPRA Leon Competición TCR	4	DNF	1:02.469	9