2024 TCR UK CROFT RACE WEEKEND

The BRSCC gets set to kick off the second half of the TCR UK Touring Car season this weekend, starting with a trip to North Yorkshire and the high speed Croft circuit. With the usual support package of tin-top grids plus a multitude of Mazda MX-5s, this flat and fast venue is certain to produce two more days of exceptional racing as championship battles start to get serious.

It’s shaping up to be a duel between Adam Shepherd and Carl Boardley in the battle for the TCR UK Touring Car Championship crown as the paddock touches down at Croft this weekend. Both took a win each last time out in an eventful day of racing at Oulton Park and heading to Yorkshire, it’s Shepherd who holds a 28 point lead as the second half of the season begins. Both are currently locked into a fierce rivalry with each other which could continue towards fever pitch across the weekend.

Callum Newsham has quietly crept up to third place with a single race win under his belt so far, but consistent results have helped him remain in contention when others around him have stumbled throughout. Brad Hutchison will be hoping to climb higher up the table and add to his tally after his Snetterton victory, while Darron Lewis holds sixth overall in the Hyundai as he continues to get quicker and quicker especially after his first outright podium finish at Oulton Park. Rick Kerry also hopes to retain his Gen 1 Cup lead from Will Beech and Mark Smith.

Max Edmundson took the one and only race win on offer at Oulton Park in the Milltek Sport Civic Cup after race two was voluntarily postponed to another race weekend due to timetable constraints on the day. He will look to extend his championship lead further with a 33 point gap over Josh Files, who came close to victory in Cheshire but was lucky to survive after suffering break problems. At this stage, it’s an Area Motorsport 1-2-3 with Alistair Camp in the FN2 generation Civic currently third but almost 100 points off the top spot at this stage.

He could also be under threat from Spencer Stevenson in fourth who heads to Croft just seven points back, while there’s a three way battle brewing for fifth between Liam McGill, Lewis Kent and Harvey Caton. Having missed out on a second race at Oulton, the Civic Cup paddock is certainly going to be fired up to get back out there, especially such a competitive field of cars once more.

The BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship is also back out in force with its young stars having produced plenty of memorable moments and close races on this Yorkshire track too. This year’s championship battle is looking particularly impressive at the front, as Jenson O’Neill-Going leads the way outright by just nine points from Finn Leslie, with Jenson also runaway front runner in the Mk6 class.

As for the Mk7s, there has been a fine selection of drivers that have been proving their pace since the start of the season, with Jacob Hodgkiss in particular bouncing back from a tough Snetterton to take a win and a podium last time at Oulton. That has elevated him to fourth overall and third in the Mk7 class behind leader Leslie and second placed Jenson Mason. Also be sure to watch for the likes of Alfie Garford, Tommy Harfield, Ben Doughty and co, all of which have been proving their pace and are certain to be in that lead group contesting for victories this weekend.

If you thought the Juniors were competitive, it appears that their senior counterparts in the AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Championship are already proving that their field is even more so with no less than five different winners from the opening eight races already. Having won half of these races himself already, Alastair Kellett is taking steps to finally take the title he’s narrowly missed out on the past three seasons. Now 19 points in front of Zach Lucas, who has just the one win to his name so far, Alastair will hope the momentum stays with him, especially at a circuit he’s also been victorious at before.

The other race winners in the season have been Simon Horrobin, John Cooper and Daniel Lewis, showing that a healthy mix of experience and youth is rife on this grid. Horrobin and Cooper are two of the most experienced drivers in the paddock, while Lewis is in his first senior racing season after graduating from Fiesta Juniors. He also sits third in the Am class behind leader Archie Johnson and second placed James Pope with ground to make up after a string of bad luck.

It’s safe to say the previous pair of races for the Audi TT Cup Racing Championship were rather eventful, especially for former points leader Carl Swift whose day ended merely yards into the first start of race one. As a result, he’s now slipped to seventh, although when looking at the current situation with dropped scores this early on, he still incredibly leads in that standing. This could certainly be a saving grace, but he’ll know that he cannot afford to lose many more points before they start having a more profound effect.

Oulton Park allowed Matt Luff to take his first pair TTCup race wins and thus the current championship lead on total scores, giving him a comfortable 19 point cushion over Will Stacey in second place with Bradley Burns, top Masters driver Sean Smith and Ross Makar currently in the top five. Burns is still looking for his first win, Smith continues to get quicker with every race weekend that passes, and Makar would also love to get back to winning ways after victories in the inaugural season last year. Also watch for Andrew Dyer, Luke Handley, Richard Forber, Steve Foden and Paul Luti amongst others.

There’s also the mass ranks of the BRSCC’s Mazda MX-5 paddock joining in the action this weekend at Croft, with all three championships also continuing into the second half of their seasons too. The GAZ Shocks Mazda MX-5 Championship is back in action after an Anglesey meeting that saw domination from Jack Noller, after he wrapped up all three race wins to firmly leap into the title picture.

He still sits in second place behind season long leader Thomas Langford, who still scored podiums in all three races to minimise the points loss courtesy of Noller’s hat-trick. With a lead of just seven points, Croft could really be a turning point in this year’s battle especially if Noller puts on a repeat performance. Don’t count out Luke Pullen and Adam Sparrow either, as both are now firm cornerstones of the leading group and are always in contention for victory.

Anglesey was also another interesting development in the Downforce Radio Mazda MX-5 Clubman Championship as Paul Bateman retained his points lead but didn’t take any of the three victories that were on offer. Instead, it was Jonny Greensmith that rolled back the years and claimed a clean sweep in Wales to firmly push himself straight into title contention. On current drop scores he sits third just a point behind second placed Jack Warry, and just like Noller in the MX-5 Championship, if he puts on a repeat performance and is unbeatable in Yorkshire, Greensmith could put himself on course to win another MX-5 crown by the end of the season.

As for Warry, he’s come into his own in 2024 and taken his first outright race win this year at Oulton Park, so he will certainly keep on pushing to make more top step visits and remain a contender. As for Bateman, his early form of winning several races hasn’t disappeared, but it appears that others have caught up and Paul needs to carry on pushing and getting back to winning ways in order to retain his lead. Nothing less than victory will do for him.

Over in the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 SuperCup, Pro points leader Aidan Hills had to share the top step at Anglesey with Patrick Fletcher across all three races and while he does lead on total points scored from Joe Wiggin and Fletcher, it is in fact “Patch” that’s in front when you take dropped scores into account. All three are firmly in this title fight, especially after Wiggin’s pair of victories at Oulton Park pushing him into contention. Oliver Allwood’s consistency has helped him up to fourth, while Snetterton winner Tom Griffiths currently completes the top five.

Anglesey also saw a change in the Club class lead as Ollie Hall managed to take over at the top from long time leader Aimee Watts. A victory and two second places have now catapulted him to P1 by just a single point and now puts this class battle on a knife-edge. Bruce Robinson continues to pursue them in third place ahead of Clive Powles and Alex Jones, while Wilbur Tiley continues on the comeback trail in sixth place as he makes up ground from the Silverstone season opener.

Written by Scott Woodwiss