Russell Joyce has announced that he will make his return to the TCR UK Touring Car Championship, following several years away from motorsport.
Returning to the championship after last competing in 2022, Russell will be driving an Audi RS 3 LMS TCR Generation 2 car, with an exciting livery that makes him unmissable on track.
The Audi will be run by 2024 TCR UK Teams Champions JH Racing, who have already announced the return of title contender and race winner Callum Newsham as part of their expanded lineup for the 2026 season.
Russell is CEO of the Chelmsford-based business Joyce Design, which has been a championship partner to TCR UK since 2021, providing exciting and unmissable liveries for competitors as well as support for teams in the Paddock.
“At Joyce Design, we are passionate about producing high-quality, creative vehicle branding solutions. Motorsport provides the perfect platform to showcase what we do, and we’re looking forward to seeing lots of our work on track this year,” said Russell.
During his previous stint in TCR UK, Joyce enjoyed several competitive seasons, driving older TCR cars to success, with class wins in the Goodyear Diamond Award.
Making his return for 2026, where the season gets underway at Brands Hatch during the Easter weekend, Joyce will be driving a Gen2 Audi. Combined with the expertise of the James Hone-led squad, Russell is excited to return this year.
“It’s great to be back in TCR UK after a few years out of competitive racing. The TCR Paddock has always been a high level of competition with many different factory cars, which has made this interesting for both driver and spectator,” explained Russell.
“The TCR UK Championship has built a reputation for attracting a wide variety of manufacturer machinery and delivering close, wheel-to-wheel racing — a factor that played a key role in my decision to return. For the 2026 campaign, I will run with JH Racing, led by James Hone, whose team has become synonymous with professional preparation and strong technical expertise within the paddock.”
Championship Manager Jack Finlan is very happy to see Russell make his return to the TCR UK Paddock, as well as seeing JH Racing expanding to take on further entriers this year.
“It’s great to see Russell make his return to the championship after several years away. Russell has been a huge supporter of the TCR concept and we have seen many entries over the years where liveries has been supplied by Joyce Designs, making the cars stand out on track even more during a race weekend. Working with JH Racing provides Russell a chance to come back fighting and enjoy his racing again as the team expands to multiple entries for 2026” said Jack.
“I’m also very pleased to see drivers are returning to the grid after some time away from the championship. TCR UK has grown in recent seasons, with new drivers, teams and TCR brands making the move to the UK to compete against each other and is nowe the go to place for touring car racing across the UK.”
To learn more about the TCR UK Touring Car Championship, visit https://www.tcr-uk.co.uk/ for more information on how to get involved.
For more information about the 2026 TCR UK Touring Car Championship, visit https://www.tcr-uk.co.uk/2026-calendar/.
