TCR UK Touring Car Championship – Rounds 14 & 15
Snetterton 300 – 13th & 14th September 2025
Adam Shepherd opened a 33-point lead at the top of the TCR UK points standings with only one event remaining after leading the way at Snetterton last weekend (13-14 September).
Shepherd raced to victory from pole position in the Norfolk venue’s opening contest, then climbed to fourth in the reversed-grid race which brought a maiden win for George Jaxon.
Qualifying
It was Adam Shepherd’s Capture Motorsport-run CUPRA Leon VZ TCR that set the pace in Saturday’s qualifying session, earning the Essex racer his fifth six-point score from six events.
Shepherd’s 91.58mph lap around the technical three-mile circuit was 0.63 seconds faster than Vannin Motorsport’s George Jaxon. Having switched from an Audi RS3 LMS, Jaxon was making his first appearance in his own Leon VZ TCR and thus would have to start the weekend’s first race from the back of the grid.
JH Racing man Callum Newsham was in a similar position. Points leader heading into the weekend, Newsham had upgraded his Hyundai i30 N to the Korean marque’s latest Elantra N model. Knowing his qualifying times would count for little, the Scot opted to complete only two laps. He did not set a representative time, although his sector times suggested a quick lap was on the cards despite a less-than-ideal setup.
Series debutant Max Hall would join Shepherd on the front row of the grid. Driving a Ben Sharpe Racing-run Lynk & Co 03, Hall was 0.8s shy of Shepherd’s pace. Last year’s Mini Challenge runner-up was still getting to grips with a car in which he had had very little pre-weekend running – to the point that his times were still improving after the car’s Goodyear rubber had passed its peak.
Row 2 of the grid would comprise the CUPRA Leon VZ TCRs of Area Motorsport pairing Sam and Steve Laidlaw. Sam Laidlaw was nearly half a second down on Hall, just pipping his father Steve by 0.002s on his final lap. A slightly quicker previous effort was removed for breaching track limits.
Completing the points-paying positions were two previous-generation CUPRAs. Brad Hutchison’s Bond It with MPH Racing Leon Competicion TCR was sixth fastest to secure fifth on the grid. Next was Harry Bloor, now driving a similar example run by Vannin Motorsport after his Hyundai i30 N TCR was destroyed by fire at the Power Maxed Racing premises.
Will Beech (Capture Motorsport CUPRA Leon Competicion) was the best of the drivers aged over 40 contesting the Goodyear Diamond Award, eighth quickest overall. Luke Sargeant (Vannin Motorsport Audi RS3 LMS TCR) and Newsham completed the top 10, ahead of Mark Smith (BSR CUPRA Leon Competicion TCR).
Pacesetter in the Gen 1 Cup, for older cars, was Alex Jones (DW Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI) ahead of points leader Jeff Alden (Matrix Motorsport Opel Astra).
SNETTERTON 300 QUALIFYING RESULT
Round Fourteen – Race Report
Sunday’s first race had a lunchtime start and, while the track remained dry, low ambient temperatures made it difficult for the drivers to get heat into their slick rubber.
Making his first race start in a TCR car, Hall didn’t quite nail the launch procedure and the Lynk & Co was left spinning its wheels as Shepherd had a clear run to the first corner. Hall was also jumped by the Laidlaws and – briefly – Hutchison before battling back past the latter.
As Shepherd pulled clear, his title rival Newsham was the man on the move. Setup tweaks had unlocked further pace from his Elantra and, although it was still proving to be a handful, Newsham climbed to sixth from the back of the grid on the first lap.
On the next tour, the Hampshire-based Scot was fastest of all as he closed up to the three cars in front. Steve Laidlaw appeared to be lacking pace and lost out to Hall for third at the Wilson hairpin.
With Hutchison immediately behind perhaps slightly baulked, Newsham took advantage with good drive out of the corner to snatch fifth. He was in fourth just two corners later, diving inside Laidlaw Sr at Agostini.
Sam Laidlaw was the next target for both Hall and Newsham. When he ran slightly wide at Riches on the next lap, the pair both shot past.
By this stage, Shepherd was some 5s up the road but Hall set the fastest lap as he chipped away at the margin. Shepherd responded with a new marker as Hall started having to focus more on Newsham who was putting him under pressure for second. Newsham eventually made a move stick around the outside of Brundle, the first part of the Esses.
Shepherd was long gone as he raced to his seventh win of the season, 7s clear of his pursuers. But second place from the back of the grid was a superb result for Newsham and meant he only dropped six points to his title rival.
Hall picked up a 5s track-limits penalty in the closing stage but it did not deny him a podium finish on debut. Hutchison got the better of both Laidlaws to finish fourth. The father-and-son duo were disappointed to finish fifth and sixth, Junior ahead of Senior. Laidlaw Sr in fact had to work hard to fend off George Jaxon, another who impressed from the back of the grid.
Will Beech took Goodyear Diamond Award honours in eighth overall, ahead of Mark Smith. Harry Bloor completed the top 10 after a brief pitstop to check a fuel warning light.
Gen 1 Cup laurels went to Alex Jones as Jeff Alden’s challenge was hobbled by turbo-boost failure, which left him touring around to ensure he collected the points for a finish.
SNETTERTON 300 ROUND FOURTEEN RESULT
Round Fifteen – Race Report
As always, the grid for the weekend’s second race was based on a reversal of the top 10 from the opener. That left Bloor on pole with Smith alongside, and Beech and Jaxon filling Row 2.
Rain had arrived as forecast, making conditions very tricky indeed. For many, it was the first competitive running in wet conditions aboard their current steeds, including polesitter Bloor in the ex-Adam Shepherd CUPRA Leon Competicion.
The teenager was slow away and dropped to the back of the field as Beech powered ahead, chased by Jaxon and Hutchison. The Capture Motorsport man’s lead would not last long, however, as Jaxon charged around the outside of Agostini to take up the running.
The big names from the back end of the top 10 had all made good starts and Hall soon latched on to fourth-placed Steve Laidlaw. The young gun made his move around the outside of the Esses as title rivals Newsham and Shepherd battled in their wake. Newsham had run onto the kerb exiting Williams, compromising him all the way down the Bentley Straight, and Shepherd took advantage to swoop around him at Brundle for sixth.
As Jaxon continued to lead, Beech lost out to Hutchison for second and was further demoted by Hall’s cutback exiting Agostini on the second lap. Behind them, Shepherd rounded Laidlaw Sr at Riches, then eased inside his team-mate Beech at Oggies for fourth.
Newsham couldn’t afford to let his championship rival escape, so needed to clear Laidlaw quickly too. He made a move at the Esses, which didn’t work, and nearly lost out to Sam Laidlaw in the process. Laidlaw Jr edged alongside but a touch at the Bomb Hole left the CUPRA in a spin and allowed Newsham to refocus on his target ahead.
Newsham’s Elantra got a run on Laidlaw Sr’s CUPRA down the Senna Straight and tried to go around the outside at Riches. The pair made contact and Newsham was sent spinning to the inside. He crashed backwards into the Armco barrier, inflicting heavy rear-end damage to the new Elantra.
While Laidlaw pulled up to retire, Newsham dragged the sorry looking Elantra back to the pits but would go no further, a massive dent to his title hopes. The clerk of the course later attributed blame predominantly to Laidlaw, but noted the wet conditions as a mitigating factor.
Ahead of them, Hall set the fastest lap as he closed up to Hutchison. Mid-race, Hall attacked through Williams but slid wide and the pair made contact. Hutchison slewed sideways and onto the kerb; he avoided spinning but Hall was through into second.
Their squabble handed Jaxon a 2.3s lead but Hall set another fastest lap to reduce that to 1.5s. Jaxon upped his pace in response and kept the margin steady thereafter as he raced to a maiden victory. It was a well-deserved reward for the Londoner’s had work and progress under the tutelage of Adam Shepherd.
Hall was second on the road but later penalised for his contact with Hutchison, their positions reversed. Hutchison, with his car’s handling compromised, had come under threat from Shepherd in the closing laps. But Shepherd too was struggling, regretting a tyre-pressure change he’d made on the grid which blunted his pace. He exerted plenty of pressure on Hutchison but was unwilling to take too big a risk and settled for fourth.
Sam Laidlaw was fifth, some 15s further adrift, but well clear of Goodyear Diamond Award winner Beech in sixth. Seventh was Sargeant, who had retired from the earlier race with driveshaft failure.
After his poor start, Bloor was happy with his pace thereafter and brought the car home eighth. Smith was ninth, second of those eligible for the Goodyear Diamond Award where he now holds a 44-point lead over Beech in the standings.
Alden headed Jones for Gen 1 Cup honours and needs only a handful of points at Brands Hatch to secure the title.
SNETTERTON 300 ROUND FIFTEEN RESULT
Shepherd’s strong weekend, coupled with Newsham’s disastrous second race, means the Capture Motorsport driver now holds a 33-point lead over his JH Racing rival in the title race. But with 88 points on offer at the Brands Hatch finale, the battle is far from over. The championship will be decided at the world-famous Kent circuit on 1/2 November 2025.
Driver Quotes
Round 14 winner, Adam Shepherd
“We’ve been struggling all weekend with the car – oversteer, understeer, oversteer, understeer. But it was fast. It was hard to gauge how good my start was because I think Max got a bad one. But I had a big lead into Turn 1, Turn 2, and then brought it home.”
Round 15 winner, George Jaxon
“Wow, what a feeling! Every lap I was coming round, I was thinking, ‘Please god, let it be the last lap!’ A big shout out to my sponsor Trade Nation, Pep [Planeta] and all the boys at Vannin Motorsport. And a massive shout-out to Adam Shepherd because he’s really brought me on a lot.”
Championship positions after Snetterton 300 event
Next time – Brands Hatch Indy – The Finale
The 2025 TCR UK Touring Car Championship comes to a conclusion in just under six weeks’ time, on Saturday 1st November and Sunday 2nd November at Brands Hatch in Kent.
We’ll be crowning our champions with the last two rounds of the 2025 season, using the Indy layout as the venue for our finale, along with a packed support programme.
After a successful meeting at Snetterton last weekend, we return alongside the British Truck Racing Championship for “Touring Cars and Trucks – Part Two”, which is all part of the Fireworks Finale in the first weekend of November.
You can purchase tickets for the next event of the 2025 season at Snetterton from their website:
https://www.brandshatch.co.uk/2025/november/trucks-and-fireworks
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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