Brands Hatch hosts the TCR UK season opener

Brands Hatch will host the opening round of the 2024 TCR UK championship this weekend, with Carl Boardley aiming to defend his drivers’ title with a change of the guard behind him, as many of his rivals switched to join his title-winning CUPRA brand.

Regular title contender Adam Shepherd has stayed with Area Motorsport, but the squad have made the switch from Hyundai to CUPRA, fielding a pair of cars for Shepherd and team-mate Luke Sargeant.

Another hotly tipped contender will be Bradley Hutchison, who has also made a full-time switch from the Audi he drove last year to the CUPRA. Go-Fix Honda by Sports77 are new to the championship, bringing with them ex-BTCC driver and team owner Will Powell along with new team-mate Alex Jones, with the new team taking over the Honda programme in the championship, running a pair of Civic Type R FK7 cars.

The wild card of the weekend will be TCR Europe frontrunner Viktor Andersson, who will be racing in the championship for the first time in a car which also makes its UK racing debut, the Lynk & Co 03, run by Pro Alloys Racing. 

The leading charge for Hyundai is likely to come from Callum Newsham, who has remained with JH Racing this year. The team fields a pair of i30 N machines for Newsham and new teammate Darron Lewis.

The leading and indeed only new generation Audi RS 3 LMS will again be run by Rob Boston Racing, with Joe Marshall.

This year the championship will feature three races at each event, except for the third one in Oulton Park.

Timetable

Saturday

Qualifying: 09:55 BST / 10:55 CEST 

Race 1: 15:00 BST / 16:00 CEST

Sunday

Race 2 : 14:00 BST / 15:00 CEST

Race 3 : 16:50 BST / 17:50 CEST 

Entry list

1 - Carl Boardley (CBM / Hart GT, CUPRA Leon Compéticion)

7 - Will Powell (Go-Fix Honda / 77 Sport, Honda Civic Type R FK7)

11 - Alex Jones (Go-Fix Honda / 77 Sport, Honda Civic Type R FK7)

12 - Cedric Bloch (Simon Green Motorsport / Sport 77, Audi RS 3 LMS)

16 - Callum Newsham (JH Racing, Hyundai i30 N)

17 - Bradley Hutchison (MPH Racing, CUPRA Leon Compéticion)

18 - Simon Mauger (Mauger Motorsport, CUPRA TCR)

19 - Jeff Alden (Matrix Motorsport / DW Racing, Opel Astra)

20 - Viktor Andersson (Pro Alloys Racing, Lynk & Co 03)

22 - Rick Kerry (EDF Motorsport, CUPRA TCR)

27 - Will Beech (Capture Motorsport, Volkswagen Golf GTI)

28 - Bradley Thurston (Sport 77, Audi RS 3 LMS)

50 - Darelle Wilson (DW Racing, Vauxhall Astra)

77 - Mark Smith (Richmond Fire Motorsport, CUPRA TCR)

99 - Joe Marshall-Birks (Rob Boston Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS II)

111 - Ryan Bensley (Pro Alloys Racing, Lynk & Co 03)

115 - Luke Sargeant (Area Motorsport, CUPRA Leon Compéticion)

117 - Adam Shepherd (Area Motorsport, CUPRA Leon Compéticion)

285 - Darron Lewis (Darron Lewis Racing / JH Racing, Hyundai i30 N)

Live streaming

Qualifying: https://www.youtube.com/live/664QCRNiipk?si=MSXLoUgMrS7-2-i7

Race1: https://www.youtube.com/live/icEIdZS1s4Y?si=hGdcU_3tknSj8A0x 

Races 2 & 3: https://www.youtube.com/live/3qwwmtdtHjg?si=fBMsp9lZmDExr1dX

Picture : TCR UK/Jakob Ebrey