TCR UK Touring Car Championship – Rounds 4 & 5
Donington Park GP – 5th & 6th April 2025
TCR UK made a swift return to Donington Park – this time on the 2.5-mile Grand Prix circuit – for Rounds 4 and 5 of the 2025 championship season last weekend (5-6 April).
Brad Hutchison bounced back from opening weekend woe to win the first race before Sam Laidlaw scored a maiden success in the sequel as on-the-road victor Bradley Burns was twice hit with jump-start penalties. Two second places extended Adam Shepherd’s championship lead ahead of a triple-header at Silverstone next month.
Qualifying
TCR UK debutant Bradley Burns scorched to pole position in his Area Motorsport-run Audi RS3 LMS, 0.158 seconds faster than Adam Shepherd (Capture Motorsport CUPRA Leon Competicion). It was championship leader Shepherd who had been setting the pace, despite carrying 40kg of compensation weight, until the dying minutes. But one last run from Burns lifted him to the top of the timesheets, although his status as a guest driver meant that Shepherd still earned the maximum six points.
Next fastest was the ballast-free CUPRA of Bond It with MPH Racing’s Brad Hutchison. Just 0.07s down on Shepherd, the Yorkshireman’s advantage over Sam Laidlaw (Area Motorsport CUPRA Leon VZ) was an almost equally small 0.09s.
JH Racing driver Callum Newsham was fastest of the Hyundai i30 Ns in fifth overall, three tenths up on a slightly frustrated Steve Laidlaw. The elder Laidlaw, carrying 30kg aboard the sister car to son Sam’s, felt he was overdriving a little after a very positive test day.
Seventh fastest was Alistair Camp (Area Motorsport), who reckoned he was losing significant time through the chicane as he grappled with the steering on his Hyundai. Ryan Bensley’s returning Lynk & Co 03 was eighth, a tenth quicker than compensation weight-laden Finn Leslie (Power Maxed Racing Hyundai). Another returnee, Luke Sargeant, completed the top 10 aboard his Vannin Motorsport-run Audi RS3 LMS.
DONINGTON PARK GP QUALIFYING RESULT
Round Four – Race Report
Having not raced a TCR car since his days in the German championship several years ago, Burns was apprehensive about his getaway from pole position. Unfortunately, he couldn’t prevent his Audi creeping before the lights went out so, although he powered into the lead, he would later pay with a 10s jump-start penalty.
From the outside of the front row, Shepherd did not make the best start and found himself squeezed between Hutchison and Newsham as they approached Redgate. Hutchison slotted into second and Newsham took third as Shepherd slipped to fourth, although the Essex driver reclaimed third as they charged down the Craner Curves into the Old Hairpin.
Steve Laidlaw then also got a run on Newsham and almost managed to pull off an unusual move around the outside of McLeans. As the pair charged into Coppice, two into one did not go. Relatively light contact unsettled the rear of the Laidlaw’s car and he couldn’t quite recover it before running out of road, suffering a trip through the gravel for his troubles.
The action allowed Laidlaw’s son Sam to slip past into fourth. But as he braked for the Melbourne Hairpin, Newsham behind was caught out. The Hyundai ran into the back of Laidlaw Jr’s CUPRA and sent it into a spin.
This time it was Camp who was there to take advantage, grabbing fourth position. Newsham hit back with a move into the Old Hairpin on the next tour but he couldn’t shake off the attentions of Camp’s similar car. Sadly, what looked set to be a cracking battle between the pair didn’t even reach half-distance. Just after setting the fastest first sector of anyone, Camp’s leaking power-steering fluid – a legacy of damage sustained at the previous event – forced him into retirement.
That relieved the pressure on Newsham but, as the race settled down, he was unable to make much impression on those in front. Burns was untroubled en route to victory on the road, as Hutchison eased his pace in the knowledge of the leader’s impending penalty.
So it was Hutchison who earned his fourth career victory, his overriding emotion being relief that the team’s setup overhaul had transformed his fortunes from a fortnight earlier. As Burns’s penalty dropped him to third, Shepherd took second, finding that the extra weight his car carried took its toll over a race distance.
Steve Laidlaw recovered well to be classified fourth, just beating Bensley to Goodyear Diamond Award honours, for drivers aged 40 and over. The pair both managed to pass Leslie, who was finding it tough going to lug around 30kg of compensation weight and took sixth.
Sargeant was seventh, while Sam Laidlaw set the race’s fastest lap on his recovery drive to eighth. He was classified ahead of Newsham, who had 24s added to his race time after being deemed to have gained an unfair advantage from the earlier contact. Leslie’s PMR team-mate Harry Bloor completed the top 10.
DONINGTON PARK GP ROUND FOUR RESULT
Round Five: The 100th TCR UK Race – Race Report
With the grid for weekend’s second race based on a top-10 reversal of the opening result, it was 16-year-old Bloor who sat on pole position, with Newsham alongside. Sam Laidlaw and Sargeant occupied row two, while Steve Laidlaw, Burns, Shepherd and Hutchison would have to make their way forward from rows four and five.
But there was drama before the race even started. Newsham was forced into a much-delayed pitlane start after the nuts on his left-front wheel sheered on a reconnaissance lap. He would end the race unclassified. Steve Laidlaw also hit strife, losing second gear on his CUPRA, and he too would start from the pitlane.
It was Laidlaw Jr who shot into an early lead as Bloor struggled to get off the startline and was swamped by the pack. After a very tight first corner, Sargeant emerged in second and Burns charged past Leslie for third exiting the Old Hairpin. Shepherd further demoted Leslie at the Esses, while Bensley and Hutchison also squeezed past the youngster before the end of the opening lap.
Burns wasted no time in muscling past Sargeant through the daunting Craner Curves on the second lap and then set about closing the gap to his race-leading team-mate Laidlaw. He set the fastest lap as he homed in but was yet to reach the CUPRA’s tail when Laidlaw had an almighty moment through the Esses on lap five of 13. Clipping the kerb on entry, Laidlaw’s car went into a huge tank-slapper through the high-speed chicane. Amid flailing arms and opposite lock in fourth gear, the young charger appeared to defy physics as he gathered up the slide. But Burns was through, despite lifting off in anticipation of a collision.
Meantime, Shepherd had passed Sargeant for third but was unable to match the pair of lighter cars in front. Earlier race winner Hutchison’s progress was hampered when he clobbered a tyre stack at the Esses, but he still managed to take fourth from Sargeant mid-race.
The race at the front then settled down with the Area duo ahead of Shepherd and Hutchison. Further excitement came from the battle for fifth. Having climbed from the back of the grid, Camp got a run to pass Bensley who then stayed with him as the local man tried to find a way past Sargeant’s Audi. Twice Camp got a cutback exiting Coppice only to lose out to the Audi’s speed down the straight, before executing a fine move around the outside into the Esses on the penultimate lap. Both drivers did well to avoid contact, while Bensley pounced on Sargeant’s compromised exit to snatch sixth into the Melbourne Hairpin.
As Burns cruised to victory, news came through that his start would be investigated post-race. There was a sense of déjà vu as he was eventually slapped with another 10s censure and again slipped to third in the classification.
So Sam Laidlaw inherited his maiden win, a reward for his heroics at the Esses. It moves him into second in the championship standings as, 6s further back, Shepherd’s second place extended his overall advantage to a healthy 45 points.
Hutchison finished fourth and climbs from 16th to sixth in the championship in one weekend, his title challenge back on track. Camp and Bensley were fifth and sixth, the latter taking Goodyear Diamond Award honours.
Behind Sargeant in seventh, Leslie held off Will Beech’s Capture Motorsport-run CUPRA for eighth. Steve Laidlaw did well to climb to 10th without the aid of second gear at the circuit’s slow corners. It leaves Laidlaw Sr third in the standings, 17 behind his son and two ahead of Leslie.
DONINGTON PARK GP ROUND FIVE RESULT
Driver Quotes
Round 4 winner, Brad Hutchison
“It’s a relief! The first weekend put quite a lot of pressure on us to get it back on track, so there was quite a lot of relief because we couldn’t have done a better job really. Massive thanks to my dad, massive thanks to the sponsors – Bond It, Elland Roofing Supplies – everyone that gets me onto the grid here.
“It’s quite a large crowd to win in front of, which is nice. I’m just soaking up the moment really!”
Round 5 winner, Sam Laidlaw
“I’m a bit shell-shocked, to be fair. Honestly, I thought I was losing it into the wall! Mega race, though, I had a lot of fun.”
Next time – Silverstone National
The 2025 TCR UK Touring Car Championship is back in action in just over 5 weeks, on Saturday 17th May and Sunday 18th April at Silverstone in Northamptonshire.
Using the National circuit, expect some classic side-by-side, hard-fought touring car racing as rounds six, seven and eight play out across the weekend.
You can purchase tickets for the next event of the 2025 season at Silverstone, on the National circuit from their website:
https://www.silverstone.co.uk/events/barc-tcr-uk-touring-car-championship
To find out more about the TCR UK Touring Car Championship visit https://www.tcr-uk.co.uk/ for more information and how to get involved.
To learn more about the 2025 TCR UK Touring Car Championship Calendar events, visit https://www.tcr-uk.co.uk/2025-calendar/ for more information.
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