Max Hall takes maiden TCR UK victory in second Croft race
Max Hall became the latest winner in TCR UK with victory in a damp and drizzly second race of the weekend at Croft.
With Russell Joyce ruled out after his accident in race one and the result of that opening encounter having been revised after the finish, it was Hall who lined up at the head of an eleven car field.
Brad Hutchison made the best start to take the lead at the start ahead of Hall on the run down to turn one but the Cupra driver then slowed towards the end of the opening lap and was forced to limp into the pits.
That put Hall into the lead ahead of Jenson O’Neill-Going, with Max Hart and Carl Boardly behind, although former champion Boardley then overhauled Hart on the second lap to move into third.
Points leader Callum Newsham, fresh from his victory in the opening race of the weekend, moved up into sixth by the end of the second lap and then dived down the inside of Rod McGovern’s Cupra going through Hawthorn to grab fifth.
Lewis Kent and Harry Bloor both followed Newsham through but McGovern then tagged the rear of Bloor’s car at the complex, with Bloor going off into the barriers.
That brought out the safety car to allow the Honda to be recovered from the side of the circuit, with racing only getting back underway on the eighth lap with little more than six minutes left on the clock.
Hall didn’t make the best restart and had O’Neill-Going fixed on his tail, with the pair going side-by-side down to Tower, where O’Neill-Going tried to make a move around the outside.
That saw him lose time and allowed Hall to make a break, with O’Neill going forced to instead look in his mirrors as Boardley and Hart tried to get ahead of the youngster.
Behind, drama for Newsham saw him slow before the restart and dive into the pits before he returned to the action a lap down in the Hyundai – although he would quickly bring his ailing Elantra back in for a second time.
A wide slide from Boardley at the hairpin at the end of lap ten gave some breathing space for O’Neill-Going in second spot, with Lewis Kent in fifth trying to join the two Hondas battling for third place ahead.
Hart managed to get down the inside of Boardley at the hairpin at the end of the penultimate lap but couldn’t make the move stick, with the fight for third going down to the final lap.
At the front, Hall took his maiden win in the series to kick-start his title campaign with O’Neill-Going following behind in second, whilst Boardley was able to take a defensive line into the final corner to keep Hart at bay.
Kent took fifth ahead of Mark Smith with McGovern and Alastair Kellett rounding out the eight cars to finish on the lead lap.
Following his two pitstops, Newsham came home in ninth spot to salvage some points from the race, finishing two laps down.
The next TCR UK race takes place at Snetterton on July 11-12.
