TCR UK – Round 1
Oulton Park – 18th April 2022
RACE REPORT
Chris Smiley converted his pole position for the opening round of the 2022 TCR UK Championship into a controlled and well-executed victory in his Restart Racing Honda Civic Type R TCR FK7. A sharp getaway when the lights went out saw him lead the field as all 24 cars made it cleanly through turn-one at Old Hall and the first half of the lap.
Driving his JamSport Racing Hyundai i30N TCR, Max Hart claimed second place at the flag after pressuring and then passing Isaac Smith in the Race Car Consultants Volkswagen Golf towards the end of the race.
Bruce Winfield came home in fourth place in his Area Motorsport run CUPRA TCR after passing last year’s Champion Lewis Kent in the closing laps, the Essex and Kent Motorsport driver giving his recently acquired Hyundai Veloster N TCR its first UK race appearance.
Jac Constable moved up from 11th on the grid to claim sixth place ahead of Power Maxed Racing teammate Callum Newsham – both in CUPRA TCRs – and Jack Depper, who claimed 8th place in the Capture Motorsport VW Golf TCR after climbing up the order in the second half of the race.
The top ten was completed by the Area Motorsport by FastR CUPRA TCR duo of Jess Hawkins – who held her own throughout the race, albeit losing power towards the closing stages and Jamie Tonks, who will occupy pole position for race two by virtue of the top ten from the first race being reversed for the second.
With the top fifteen cars scoring points this year, Matthew Wilson gave the CUPRA Leon Competición points on its debut in the UK with an 11th place finish, with Adam Shepherd falling down the order due to power steering issues with his Hyundai i30N TCR to finish in 12th place on the final lap.
Darelle Wilson (Vauxhall Astra TCR), Scott Sumpton (Hyundai i30N TCR) and Russell Joyce (CUPRA TCR) – who became the first driver to win the Goodyear Diamond Trophy for competitors aged 40 and over – completed the top 15 point-scorers, whilst Smiley also claimed the Tom Walker Trophy win for best rookie.
Ant Whorton-Eales starred early on in the JamSport Racing Subaru in the fight for tenth-place but retired from loss of boost pressure whilst Andy Wilmot retired his Hyundai i30N TCR following contact with the tyre barrier at the Knickerbrook Chicane.
Frustratingly for the Essex & Kent Hyundai i30N driver Bradley Kent, he retired after two laps with a gearbox issue and Brad Hutchinson retired his Audi RS3 LMS TCR with driveshaft failure.
Round two gets underway at 14:45.
