It has been eventful to say the least for TCR UK in the months since October last year when Carl Boardley claimed a second consecutive title at the end of the F1 pitlane at the Silverstone finale. After a season with lower-than-expected grid sizes being followed by a contentious winter rammed full of off-track political wranglings, to emerge with 15 cars committed to a full year, and a handful of others set for a partial campaign, it can only be considered a victory.

It was obvious in the early part of the 2024 campaign that a raft of strong changes (which have been delivered) across the board for the series were needed for the upcoming season. TCR UK took a bit of a punching last term, and the towel could have easily been thrown in, but instead a shift of direction has allowed it to manoeuvre its way from being on the ropes, to step back into the centre of the ring with a fresh gait.

(Read Part 2 here)

The unstinting reality about Touring Car racing in the UK has hit hard over the last year-and-a-half. A stark set of circumstances has seen both TCR UK and the BTCC drop numbers off the back of the grid in tandem with a tough National financial outlook in general. Both Championships have seen peripheral entries who could put cars on the back of the grid with finances that were below the lowest level needed just disappear. Touring Car racing in Britain has had a reality check. Over the last few months though both have seen some healing, when they were only expected to – at best – stem the flow.

In December the championship was put on the block. With the news that World Sporting Consulting (the owners of the TCR format) were going to enact their intention to restrict TCR cars that raced outside of official TCR events in Britain from racing in any TCR event around the world coming out, there was some anger among the TCR owner community in the country.

The unveiling of the URC (Ultimate Racing Championship for Modern Day Touring Cars) for 2025 had thrown a stick in the wheels. Car owners were looking towards that series as an alternative to – or a place to run a partial parallel campaign – alongside TCR UK this year. When WSC made their announcement, the irked parties were not shy in sharing their opinions about restricting the use of expensive personal property, and some of those were quite angry. The reality of those outside pressures from a potential rival, and the current financial state of the UK, are part of the reason why changes such as reductions in entry fees and reduction in tyre allocation. These are decisions made purely for the good of the Championship with the lay of the land very different to where it was when the last overhaul in 2022 was enacted.

That shift from being part of the Touring Car Trophy to TCR UK standing alone once again led to two seasons of grids of over 20 machines, but the series kicked off at Brands Hatch in 2024 with only 15 entries – 10 of which at that point were intending to run a full season. With part time entries across the year, and others who committed to see out the season joining later, the championship had a high of 17 cars at the Silverstone National round, and a low of 12 at Croft. Naturally those numbers created some disquiet among those involved in TCR UK, and from those outside the Championship with perhaps a hope that the series would simply disappear.

In addition to the financials and tyre rule changes a massive shift for TCR UK is the move to the BARC stable. The club, which also serves as the organising body for the BTCC, has helped the series build a package around the TCR contingent and the sister Civic Cup that also falls under the same ownership. Alongside that the addition of JSCC creates an exciting triumvirate for the package. The result has pulled in 15 full season entries, for the season kick off this weekend, with single entries confirmed to feature across the season. The ace up the sleeve in that respect has been a chance for a one-off return to supporting British GT (which will likely see a 20 car grid) and two rounds supporting British Truck Racing – including the hugely popular Brands Hatch fireworks season closer, events that put drivers in front of some of the biggest crowds in UK motor racing.

Year-on-year TCR UK has been under pressure to deliver not just on-track competition, but value to its competitors, and this year is no different. Having spoke with both Championship Promoter Stewart Lines and Championship Manager Jack Finlan across the winter on a number of occasions, covering a number of subjects, the one thing that comes across in each and every conversation is an unrelenting drive to make sure that TCR UK ‘works’ in the long term, and starting 2025 in a better position than this time 12 months ago is a strong foundation to ensure that the series ends the year in a stronger place than it was just five months ago.