Just three weeks after the thrills and spills of Croft, TCR UK returns to action for a quickfire double-header at Oulton Park this Saturday (5 July).
Challenging sweeps and undulations await at the fans’ favourite Cheshire parkland circuit, with all the action packed into a single day on the 2.26-mile Island layout.
There is a new name at the top of the standings after Callum Newsham maximised his Hyundai i30 N TCR’s potential in North Yorkshire en route to a win and two second places. The JH Racing driver now has a 27-point lead at the top of the standings (with 40 points available for each race win).
Consequently, Newsham will have to lug around the maximum 40kg of compensation weight, which is likely to hurt at Oulton Park’s hairpin and hilly sections.
Erstwhile points leader Adam Shepherd was the man to beat last time out when his CUPRA Leon VZ TCR was only denied a hat-trick of wins by a costly second-race disqualification. Being unable to count that race as one of his dropped scores means the Capture Motorsport driver now has some catching up to do in the championship but Oulton Park is a circuit where he has race-winning form.
While Shepherd’s Croft weekend was mixed, Steve Laidlaw’s could be best described as character-building. The pace was there but results were not. Two big crashes would have been costly on the finances, confidence and title aspirations. The positive was that his Area Motorsport-prepared CUPRA Leon VZ TCR did its job from a safety perspective and Laidlaw walked away none the worse for wear. He is now 61 points down in the championship chase and needs to capitalise on carrying no compensation weight to make inroads this weekend.
Laidlaw has in fact slipped to fourth in the standings, behind son Sam Laidlaw who runs alongside him at the Area squad in similar machinery. A fourth and two third positions at Croft last month were welcome consistency for Laidlaw Jr, but he’ll be keen to get back towards the top step of the podium. Carrying 30kg of ballast this weekend won’t help, although, of the regular frontrunners, only his dad and Brad Hutchison will have less.
Turbo failure restricted Hutchison’s scoring on home ground last time out, but shedding some weight could improve the chances of last year’s championship runner-up aboard his MPH Racing with Bond It CUPRA Leon Competicion.
Rookie racer Finn Leslie makes a quick return to the track where he made his British Touring Car Championship debut barely a fortnight ago. That opportunity was a deserved reward for the Power Maxed Racing young gun who lies fifth overall in the TCR UK standings. It also demonstrated the career launchpad that TCR UK can provide young drivers. Team-mate Harry Bloor in PMR’s second Hyundai will no doubt have similar aspirations.
Vannin Motorsport Audi RS3 LMS TCR duo George Jaxon and Jordan Kerridge will look to build on promising weekends featuring top-six finishes last time out. For former GT4 racer Kerridge to achieve such a result on debut was particularly impressive and suggests an exciting future.
Mark Smith is also continuing an upward curve aboard the Richmond Fire-backed CUPRA Leon Competición TCR run by Ben Sharpe Racing. The experienced racer is enjoying the challenge of stepping into Gen 2 machinery this year and currently leads the way in the Goodyear Diamond Award for drivers aged 40 and over. Class rival Rod McGovern returns to action this weekend after missing the previous event.
Alex Jones continues to fly the flag for the Gen 1 Cup after a bruising encounter in his DW Racing-run Volkswagen Golf last time out.
A busy day at Oulton Park begins with Qualifying at 0950hrs on Saturday morning. Lights out on Round 12 of the championship is scheduled for 1250hrs. The action concludes with the extra spice of a reversed-grid race, Round 13 of the championship, timetabled to start at 1635hrs.
As ever, there’s no better place to watch the action than trackside. But for those unable to make it in person, a full live stream is available – with expert commentary and analysis – on TCR UK’s YouTube channel.
To learn 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.
Stay tuned for news and updates regarding the 2025 season via our website and social media channels:
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