Lewis Kent was delighted to claim a second TCR UK podium at a circuit he had never before raced at, after the Hyundai driver finished third in the second race at Oulton Park on Saturday.
Having started from the front row of the grid in the reverse-grid second race, Kent ultimately finished third after losing out to Pyro Motorsport’s Ollie Taylor on the last corner of the last lap.
Despite that, the 18-year-old was pleased with his efforts at the Cheshire circuit, which also saw him claim fifth in the opening race of the day to cap off his best-ever weekend in TCR.
“It was frustrating, but you can’t complain about a podium,” said Kent to TouringCars.Net about his second race. “Our tyres went off halfway through the race. I got to the last corner, turned in and put my foot down a bit too hard, so I got wheelspin which took me onto the grass.
“It’s been a great weekend from us – we’ve got a good points haul this weekend and hopefully we can carry it on to Croft and carry on plugging away and getting points from then on.”
Kent was particularly pleased to claim such strong results at a circuit he had never previously raced on, unlike most of the rest of the field.
“It’s been a brand-new track for us, so if someone said to us we were going to have a fifth and a third this weekend at a brand-new track, I’d have taken it with both hands and run.
“There’s been a very good buzz around me and the team and I’m really pleased for us all, so I think we’re going to be celebrating tonight.”
Kent was also unfazed by the pressure presented by Taylor, even though he eventually succumbed to it as the Honda driver reeled him in by around six tenths a lap in the closing stages.
“Towards the last lap I think I had a bit of pressure and that’s about as much as I had. I knew Ash [Sutton] was going to go from the word go, as he should do as he has a lot more experience and pace than me.
“My strategy was to get behind Ash and hold it there and just carry on as I normally do, to just plod around and hopefully hook onto the back of him.
“The last lap was a bit hectic – I didn’t really mind having Ollie behind me. I knew he was going to try for a move on the last corner, so I went defensive and tried to hold it on the apex but I just ran myself a bit too much through the corner and out of the corner.
“We’re still pleased with third place – we could have had second but at the end of the day it’s still a third place and good points for us.”