TCR UK set for 13 car field for Donington Park finale
A field of 13 cars is set to do battle on track in the TCR UK Championship finale this weekend at Donington Park as the inaugural season draws to a close.
A number of cars will return to action having been forced to miss recent meetings, including Carl Swift’s Cupra and the Honda of Josh Price, whilst a second Vukovic Motorsport-run Renault Megane features on the entry for the first time
The second of those cars isn’t currently listed with a driver to fill the vacant seat alongside Alex Morgan as he prepares for his second outing in the series, with no confirmation yet as to whether it will race.
Much of the focus across the weekend will be on the fight for the championship title, with Dan Lloyd leading the way for WestCoast Racing on the back of a season that has seen him take seven wins from twelve starts.
It means Lloyd holds a lead of 31 points over Ollie Taylor going into the season finale, with a total of 91 still to play for.
“This weekend is massive;” he said. “I feel confident that we have the winning package heading to Donington Park. It’s a circuit that I know well, I’ve gone well there before and I think the set-up we have on the car will put us in good stead.
“We’ve had an incredible year in the TCR, the team have done an amazing job and it’s not over just yet. Our first task will be to secure pole position and then to fight forwards from there and maximise as many points as we can from the races.
“I’m really fired up for this and my eye is 100% focused on the main prize!”
Taylor goes into the season finale buoyed by his success last time out at Croft, where he followed up a second place finish in race one with a second victory of the campaign in race two – a result that saw him come right back into championship contention after Lloyd was forced to retire.
The Croft results have however ensured that Lloyd will have the upper hand when it comes to the compensation weight being run at Donington Park, with the Volkwagen running without any additional ballast onboard but Taylor faced with running 40kg on his FK8 Civic – largely as a result of the performance of Ash Sutton when he competed in the car sister Pyro-run car at Oulton Park.
Behind the top two, Andreas Bäckman retains a slender chance of securing second in the championship standings and will revert back to his Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR having taken his first victory in the series in a borrowed Honda Civic last time out.
The fact that Bäckman also snared pole at Croft means it is the FK2 Honda that he is now no longer racing that will carry the maximum 60kg of compensation weight into the weekend.
Sister Jessica meanwhile is one place further back in the championship standings and will be seeking to see off the challenge of Hyundai racer Lewis Kent to seal fourth spot.
Stewart Lines and Finlay Crocker find themselves dicing over sixth, with Lines currently 18 points clear in his Maximum Motorsport-run Cupra, whilst the returning Swift and Vauxhall driver Darelle Wilson will seek to cement their places inside the top ten in the standings.
Former BTCC racer Price is back for the first time since Brands Hatch in his FK2 Honda and a solid weekend on track should be enough to move him into the top ten, with the DPE Motorsport Alfa Romeos again missing this weekend having been forced to sit out Croft.
“The cars had to go back to Italy after the accident we had at Oulton Park,” Derek Palmer said, “and we haven’t got them back yet, so it means we will be missing Donington Park. We tried to make sure we were out there but sadly it isn’t going to happen and I’m gutted to be missing the finale as Donington – like Croft – is a circuit I love.
“We plan to be back in the series next year and need to see how the pieces come together so we can finalise our plans.”
Sean Walkinshaw completes the grid in the SWR Honda Civic in what will be his first outing since taking a podium finish in the second meeting of the year at Knockhill.
Donington Park TCR UK Entry List:
# – Driver – Team – Car
5 – Alex Morgan – Vukovic Motorsport – Renault Megane
6 – TBA – Vukovic Motorsport – Renault Megane
8 – Finlay Crocker – VFR Racing – Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR
19 – Andreas Bäckman – WestCoast Racing – Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR
23 – Dan Lloyd – WestCoast Racing – Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR
26 – Jessica Bäckman – WestCoast Racing – Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR
28 – Josh Price – JP Racing – Honda Civic Type R FK2 TCR
32 – Oliver Taylor – Pyro Motorsport – Honda Civic Type R FK2 TCR
38 – Lewis Kent – Essex & Kent Motorsport – Hyundai i30 N TCR
45 – Carl Swift – Maximum Motorsport – Cupra TCR
50 – Darelle Wilson – DW Racing – Vauxhall Astra TCR
55 – Sean Walkinshaw – Sean Walkinshaw Racing – Honda Civic Type R FK2 TCR
95 – Stewart Lines – Maximum Motorsport – Cupra TCR
