Callum Newsham crossed the line at the head of the field for the third TCR UK contest of the Silverstone National weekend to lay his marker as a contender for the 2025 title.

Hyundai racer Newsham made a grand start to beat away poleman Shepherd who also saw Steve Laidlaw slide up his inside into Copse corner with Sam Laidlaw, Brad Hutchison and Luke Sargeant in his Audi – rebuilt after a sizeable off in race two – following.

Shepherd put Laidlaw Sr under pressure into Brooklands and through Luffield Laidlaw slid wide with underheated rears, giving Shepherd the opportunity to sneak up the inside and grab second across the line. Behind, Will Beech also slid wide at the same point after being tagged by Finn Leslie but was beached in the gravel necessitating a safety car which put the field into a holding pattern.

On the restart Newsham gapped the following cars to set himself up for a relatively unchallenged run to the flag for his second win of the day.

Shepherd and Laidlaw, who after appeal was reinstated as race two winner (giving him two wins on the weekend) went toe-to-toe with the pair now both running in VZ variants of the Cupra Leon. Laidlaw, who had been on form all weekend probed the gaps around Shepherd, who was suffering a misfire, and was able to force the issue in front of the BRDC grandstand by outbraking Shepherd into the Brooklands left hander to grab second from the championship leader, with Shepherd gathering up a loose car in the process to fight off Laidlaw Jr in the second Arena Cupra VZ.

The top three were set for the remainder of the race with a relatively sedate race happening behind. Brad Hutchison followed Sam Laidlaw across the line for fifth with Luke Sargeant classified sixth ahead of Rod McGovern – with that pairing being promoted after Leslie was penalised from the spot for the contact with Beech.

The championship still has Shepherd at the head of the points table with Steve Laidlaw installed as his main challenger. Newsham and the i30N are proving that the older car can still cut it with the newest generation VZ Leon cars of the Laidlaws and Shepherd, but heading to Croft it will be a test in terms of success ballast, but the weekend shows that fears of a Shepherd whitewash over the season that was feared after round one is unlikely to materialise.