Adam Shepherd controls Croft opener
Adam Shepherd converted pole position into victory in the opening TCR UK race of the weekend at Croft.
Having led the way in qualifying earlier in the morning, Shepherd retained top spot when the lights went out and was able to control proceedings from the front.
Despite an early caution period caused by Alex Jones wiping out a tyre stack at the Jim Clark Esses, Shepherd was never in trouble at the front as he maintained a slender lead over the Hyundai of Callum Newsham.
The lead pair broke clear of Brad Hutchison in third, who jumped Sam Laidlaw on the run to turn one off the start and was then forced to defend hard to keep the younger Laidlaw at bay – with father Steve having pitted at the end of lap one after going off track twice.
Laidlaw Jr looked like he could finally get ahead onto the podium at the end of the penultimate lap when he tried to make a move on the exit of the hairpin, but that only served to delay him on the run down to turn one and allowed Finn Leslie to nip through.
As Hutchison rounded out the podium spots, Leslie was therefore able to celebrate a fourth place finish ahead of Laidlaw, with the top six being completed by Will Beech in his Cupra.
George Jaxon and Gregory Saunders spent much of the race dicing for seventh before Jaxon emerged on top, with Harry Bloor and Steve Laidlaw rounding out the top ten – although the latter would be handed a reprimand for contact late on with Mark Smith that saw him spin at the Jim Clark Esses.
Smith therefore took eleventh ahead of debutant Jordan Kerridge, with Jones taking the flag two laps down in 13th having been forced to pit for repairs after his opening lap drama.
The next race takes place on Sunday at 12:05 local time/13:05 CEST.
