Adam Shepherd and Callum Newsham won Sunday’s TCR UK races at Brands Hatch, giving the latter the championship lead after he followed up his fourth in race one and second in race two with a maiden victory.
The top ten finishers in race one were reversed for the race two grid, giving Rick Kerry pole position in his CUPRA, with rookie Will Beech alongside.
At the start, the lead came from far behind on the grid, however, as Shepherd vaulted from eighth on the grid to lead by the exit of the first corner as the slow-starting front row men held up the cars immediately behind.
Kerry then found himself off the circuit at Graham Hill Bend, promoting Luke Sargeant into second ahead of Newsham’s Hyundai.
Newsham piled the pressure on the CUPRA driver, forcing his way inside Sargeant for second going into Druids on the third lap.
Further back, reigning champion Carl Boardley ran in fourth for a few laps, but found himself under heavy pressure from the CUPRA of Joe Marshall.
Marshall eventually got by Boardley into Druids on lap six, and two laps later he had caught and passed Sargeant for the final podium position.
Race one winner Viktor Andersson, who had been part of the pack chasing Boardley, passed the champion for fifth on lap ten with a fine move that started at Clearways and was completed into Paddock Hill Bend.
Andersson then dispatched Sargeant for fourth with a cutback on the exit of Graham Hill Bend a couple of laps later.
By this stage though, Shepherd had built a comfortable advantage at the front and the leading cars stayed the same. Shepherd took his third victory in TCR UK ahead of Newhsam and Marshall.
Andersson was fifth, ahead of Boardley in sixth, despite having received a five-second time penalty for track limit exceedances which didn’t ultimately affect his finishing position.
Bradley Hutchison was sixth, passing the fading Sargeant for the position nine laps from the finish.
Sargeant held on for seventh, with the top ten completed by Will Powell, Darron Lewis and Will Beech.
Race two result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP | GD |
| 1 | 117 |  |
Adam SHEPHERD | Area Motorsport with Shepherd Motors | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 25 | 20:32.151 | 48.476 | 8 | |
| 2 | 16 | |
Callum NEWSHAM | JH Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 25 | 2.801 | 48.554 | 7 | |
| 3 | 99 | |
Joe MARSHALL | Rob Boston Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 25 | 8.069 | 48.453 | 6 | |
| 4 | 20 |  |
Viktor ANDERSSON | Pro Alloys Racing | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 25 | 11.827 | 48.739 | 10 | |
| 5 | 1 | |
Carl BOARDLEY | CBM with Hart GT | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 25 | 19.432 | 48.854 | 9 | |
| 6 | 17 | |
Bradley HUTCHISON | MPH Racing | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 25 | 20.660 | 48.950 | 15 | |
| 7 | 115 | |
Luke SARGEANT | R.S. Vehicle Sales with Area Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 25 | 21.467 | 49.081 | 3 | |
| 8 | 7 | |
Will POWELL | Go-Fix Honda by Sport77 | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 25 | 23.463 | 49.104 | 5 | |
| 9 | 285 | |
Darron LEWIS | DLR with JH Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 25 | 27.034 | 48.930 | 4 | |
| 10 | 27 | |
Will BEECH | Capture Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 25 | 47.510 | 50.206 | 2 | |
| 11 | 22 | |
Rick KERRY | EDF Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 24 | + 1 LAP | 50.187 | 1 | |
| 12 | 19 | |
Jeffrey ALDEN | Matrix Motorsport with DW Racing | Opel Astra TCR | 24 | + 1 LAP | 51.510 | 12 | |
| 13 | 77 | |
Mark SMITH | Richmond Fire Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 24 | + 1 LAP | 51.397 | 11 | |
| R | 28 | |
Bradley THURSTON | Sport77 | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 1 | DNF | 1:03.066 | 13 | |
| NS | 50 | |
Darelle WILSON | DW Racing | Vauxhall Astra TCR | – | DNS | N/A | 14 |
The grid for the final race of the weekend was formed by taking each driver’s second-best lap in qualifying, giving Newsham pole position with Andersson alongside.
When the lights went out, Newsham held his lead from Boardley and Andersson, the latter losing out at the first corner after a wobble through Paddock Hill bend.
Shepherd hauled himself from 14th on the grid up to sixth by the end of the opening lap, before the race was neutralised for four laps due to Jeff Alden having crashed his Opel Astra on the exit of Druids.
Racing resumed on lap six, and Boardley quickly found himself under pressure from Andersson, whilst Shepherd was all over the back of Hutchison for sixth.
Shepherd made quick work of getting past Hutchison, and on lap ten Andersson got by Boardley for second with a late lunge into Clearways.
By this stage, Newsham was almost five seconds clear at the front and wouldn’t ultimately be caught, claiming a maiden win in TCR UK.
Boardley looked to be set for the final podium position, but lost out to Marshall on the final lap. However, Marshall had already been given a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits by this stage, meaning that Boardley took the podium after all.
Shepherd was thus fourth, ahead of Hutchison in fifth and Marshall in sixth after his penalty was applied.
Darron Lewis equalled his best result in TCR UK, scored on Saturday, with seventh, ahead of Sargeant in eighth. Powell and Beech completed the top ten.
Newsham leads the driver’s championship after the opening round with 109 points, ahead of Shepherd (101) and Boardley (98).
Race three result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP | GD |
| 1 | 16 | |
Callum NEWSHAM | JH Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 22 | 20:22.817 | 48.344 | 1 | |
| 2 | 20 | |
Viktor ANDERSSON | Pro Alloys Racing | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 22 | 8.913 | 48.557 | 2 | |
| 3 | 1 | |
Carl BOARDLEY | CBM with Hart GT | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 22 | 10.475 | 48.731 | 3 | |
| 4 | 117 | |
Adam SHEPHERD | Area Motorsport with Shepherd Motors | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 22 | 11.064 | 48.621 | 14 | |
| 5 | 17 | |
Bradley HUTCHISON | MPH Racing | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 22 | 12.233 | 48.767 | 5 | |
| 6 | 99 | |
Joe MARSHALL | Rob Boston Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 22 | 15.428 | 48.715 | 4 | |
| 7 | 285 | |
Darron LEWIS | DLR with JH Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 22 | 22.758 | 48.832 | 13 | |
| 8 | 115 | |
Luke SARGEANT | R.S. Vehicle Sales with Area Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 22 | 26.443 | 49.112 | 6 | |
| 9 | 7 | |
Will POWELL | Go-Fix Honda by Sport77 | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 22 | 26.828 | 49.146 | 7 | |
| 10 | 27 | |
Will BEECH | Capture Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 22 | 35.249 | 49.839 | 8 | |
| 11 | 22 | |
Rick KERRY | EDF Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 22 | 36.520 | 49.787 | 10 | |
| 12 | 77 | |
Mark SMITH | Richmond Fire Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 21 | + 1 LAP | 51.779 | 11 | |
| R | 28 | |
Bradley THURSTON | Sport77 | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 15 | DNF | 49.974 | 9 | |
| R | 19 | |
Jeffrey ALDEN | Matrix Motorsport with DW Racing | Opel Astra TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 12 | |
| NS | 50 | |
Darelle WILSON | DW Racing | Vauxhall Astra TCR | – | DNS | N/A | – |