BIGGEST TCR UK GRID TO DATE DESCENDS ON BRANDS HATCH

This weekend’s two races at Brands Hatch’s Indy Circuit will see the largest number of entries in a TCR UK race meeting so far this season. A total of fourteen cars are entered for the event, with the late confirmation of Alex Morgan’s entry in a Wolf-Power Racing Renault Mégane TCR bringing the number of car brands represented to seven.

So far this season, WestCoast Racing’s Dan Lloyd has enjoyed a remarkable 100% success rate, with pole positions at Silverstone and Knockhill and four wins from the four races. As a result, he has a lead of 66 points over his young Swedish teammate Andreas Bäckman in the Drivers’ championship, with Ollie Taylor having slipped to third place after ending Race 2 at Knockhill in the gravel following contact with Andreas’ sister Jessica. Taylor has switched to the 2018-spec Honda Civic Type-R TCR from this weekend onwards and must be hoping that the change of car will also deliver a change of fortune; he joins Finlay Crocker, who has been in an FK7 Honda Civic since the start of the season. Pyro Motorsport will be looking to close the current 189-point gap to WestCoast Racing in the Teams’ championship, with just seven points currently covering the teams from second to fourth in the standings.

Several drivers return to the series after missing Knockhill. Howard Fuller will be back in the SWR Honda Civic following team boss Sean Walkinshaw’s podium finish in the car in Scotland, while the two CUPRA TCR cars of Carl Swift and Stewart Lines are now equipped with sequential transmissions thanks to the pair’s decision to upgrade from DSG gearboxes. The two Spanish cars will both run under the Maximum Motorsport banner from this weekend, having skipped Knockhill while the work was completed.

Josh Price returns in the BMR Autoglym Academy Racing Honda after his two podium finishes in Knockhill, while Lewis Kent will be hoping that his home event will see the Essex and Kent Motorsport Hyundai i30 N TCR give him his first podium appearance of the season. It’s a similar story for Darelle Wilson in the Vauxhall Astra, with a determined performance in Race 2 at Knockhill suggesting Wilson’s confidence in the car is growing with each event. Finally, as well as Alex Morgan, another new face in the paddock will be that of Robert Gilmour, who joins Derek Palmer in driving the two DPE Motorsport Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR cars.

TCR UK Promoter Jonathan Ashman commented: “I’m very pleased to see that the Brands Hatch event will have the largest number of entries so far. It’s a shame that the planned second BMR Autoglym Academy entry hasn’t made it and, despite lots of hard work behind the scenes, we weren’t quite able to translate two last-minute enquiries into cars on the grid. I’m still hopeful, however, that both the drivers concerned will be able to join TCR UK at some point later this year.”