EDIT: At 7:30pm this evening the Clerk of the Course served Bradley Burns with a 10 second penalty for being out of position at the start of race two, dropping the Audi driver to third, meaning that Burns took the chequered flag in first place in both races, with both results being changed to third.

There’s a synergy. 99 not out, and the100th TCR UK race. At Donington Park back in 2021, the final round of the Touring Car Trophy which had incorporated TCR UK cars alongside former BTCC machines, the final round of the year was day one of the second act of the championship. It was the first time in three years that the series had ran purely with TCR machines. 16 of them lined up on the grid that day as Lewis Kent took a second TCR UK driver title, and it relaunched TCR UK as a standalone championship for 2022.

For the 100^th race weekend here in 2025 there was once again 16 cars on the grid for the opening round, but for the first time in TCR UK history there were no Gen 1 cup cars on the grid. With George Jaxon shifting to a Gen 2 Audi, Cedric Bloch away on holiday and Jeff Alden withdrawing his Gen 1 Audi from proceedings, TCR UK had dispensed of the old guard (well, apart from the still competitive Hyundai i30.) This could be seen as a justification of the endeavour by Stewart Lines and the TCR UK team of keeping going – because there are not many TCR championships around the world that can boast running without the older, less competitive machines – but competitive can be a word with many different meanings, because the opening race of the weekend – barring a couple of flashpoints – wasn’t exactly the perfect showcase for the newer machines as a bit of field spread after the first five minutes or so didn’t exactly create a spicy encounter, but there were talking points.

Brad Hutchison will not be unhappy with taking the win after a penalty hit polesitter Bradley Burns for creeping at the start. In a way it balances out his DSQ from a win at Donington in 2023, which at the time caused a debate about official post-race procedures. Burns was first across the line in a car that was not going to interfere in the championship hunt points wise as a one off entry, but inexperience in getting his Audo off the line would ultimately cost him the win, which was a shame as the former Audi TT racer made good use of his fresh tyre allocation to grab pole on Saturday, and to keep a convincing race pace for most of the race.

Hutchison came out in front of the points gathering contingent into turn one. A three wide Redgate moment saw championship leader Adam Shepherd go to his left, and Callum Newsham go even further left with the Bond It car winning the initial battle. Side-by-side down Craners went Shepherd and Newsham with the points leader winning the face-off. Behind Sam Laidlaw, who’d suffered huge wheelspin at the start lost out to fast starting teammate Steve Laidlaw.

While Burns gapped the field Shepherd began to put pressure on Hutchison, but the fireworks kicked off behind the duo. Up towards McLeans Steve Laidlaw went to the left of Newsham. The Cupra VZ racer made use of the superior straight-line speed over the Hyundai i30 around the outside, but didn’t tough the kerbs meaning on the inside Newsham was quite a way from the racing line. Laidlaw Snr moved right to squeeze Newsham but didn’t quite get ahead. Under braking for Coppice Newsham squirmed with Laidlaw moving across to claim the corner leaving Newsham to take to the grass to avoid contact, which didn’t work out. A slight kiss sent Laidlaw skipping across the gravel, and down the order (the longer term result being Newsham would be demoted to a place behind Laidlaw.)

Last time out at Donington both Laidlaw cars rubbed with Hutchison, this time it would be the JHR machine going two-for-two. In the fallout of the melee Sam Laidlaw took fourth from Newsham and led through the chicane, however into the Melbourne Hairpin Sam would end up facing the wrong way. A difference in braking points appeared to be the difference as the Cupra dropped speed for the right hander. Newsham appeared to be caught out by the braking point of the car ahead of him and tagged the Cupra, while trying to avoid a collision with his later anchor point. Sam spun and rejoined at the rear of the field. Alistair Camp for a few corners was the beneficiary, but Newsham didn’t take long to re-take the position.

Once the news of the 10 second penalty to Burns came through Hutchison controlled the gap behind the on-track leader, while Shepherd settled into a groove behind, and the trio ran in that order to the flag. The battle that mattered was Newsham vs Burns with the i30 hanging around 10 seconds behind the leading Audi. A poor final lap from Burns and a fast lap from Newsham meant the i30 racer would join his title rivals on the podium, which would later be rescinded when the i30 driver received a 24 second penalty.

The fightback and battle for race two pole saw Sam Laidlaw run from last to ninth and a third-place race two grid slot behind Newsham and Power Maxed racer Harry Bloor, who kept his nose clean. Steve Laidlaw climbed through the field to fifth after an impressive Ryan Bensley – returning in his Lynk & Co 03 – kept pace with the Cupra VZ. Luke Sargeant should have claimed fifth, but a false start dropped him to eight behind the ever-impressive rookie Finn Leslie, meaning those two would sit behind Bloor and Sam Laidlaw on the race two grid.

For the second race – the 100^th TCR UK race overall – Burns would atone for his start line mistake (at the time of writing Burns was under investigation for a possible second jump start) and motor from eighth on the grid through to a win, but the drama started before the race. Newsham was stuck in the pits with a front left wheel problem (later joining a lap down before retiring) leaving Bloor on his own on the front row. Steve Laidlaw went Ctrl-Alt-Delete while his car rolled to a halt just past the Old Hairpin, before restarting and cutting through the field. A couple of close calls with weaving cars were had before a trip to the pits and a pitlane start.

Bloor bogged badly at the start forcing Sam Laidlaw into a quick avoidance move with Sargeant, Leslie and Bensley immediately beating him from the line. Once Bloor got going Burns and most of the rest of the field skipped by with Laidlaw leading into Redgate. Leslie, Bensley and Sargeant went three wide with Shepherd and Burns squeezing Bensley to start a chase of the lead pack. Burns made quick work of Leslie and was soon followed by Shepherd.

Second time around Shepherd was a bit battered by Burns as the newcomer to TCR UK grabbed second place in what was turning out to be an outstanding TCR UK debut. Again Shepherd followed suit in taking third from the returning Sargeant. With 40kg on board as success ballast, Shepherd would spend the rest of the contest in third as Burns chased down Sam Laidlaw in the lead.

After Brad Hutchison clashed with the chicane tyre stack leaving debris on the circuit the leading Laidlaw was hunted down by Burns. A mistake under pressure into the chicane saw Laidlaw catch the mother of slides, letting Burns into a lead he wouldn’t relinquish for the second time, with the pair crossing the line ahead of Shepherd in that order.

Hutchison, with his left front wing wiped out fought through to fourth to add to his earlier win and get his title charge under way. The battle for fifth went the way of Alistair Camp after a massive three-way with Bensley (sixth) and Sargeant (eventually Seventh.) Leslie claimed eighth ahead of Will Beech and Steve Laidlaw, whose second recovery drive was not a match for his race one charge.

The result of the day shows that Shepherd can be beaten fair and square – when carrying ballast. His 160 point table topping haul (which is fixed, even if Burns receives another 10 second penalty) puts him 40 points ahead of Steve Laidlaw with Finn Leslie on 113, Sam Laidlaw on 109 and fifth placed Callum Newsham on 98. The Capture Motorsport Cupra racer will look to Silverstone next time out with a hope of the pace that he had last season at the circuit carrying over, but not the bad luck that saw a huge total of points be dropped as his horrendous second half of the season began to fall apart.