Adam Shepherd marked himself out as a title favourite in the eighth season of TCR UK touring cars with two wins and another podium over the opening weekend at Donington Park.
Shepherd led the way for the opening half of last year’s championship before a wretched run of mechanical gremlins derailed his challenge. But, having finally identified the culprit – a faulty fuel tank – over the winter, Shepherd agreed a late deal to return his Cupra Leon Competicion to the grid with Capture Motorsport and immediately rediscovered his form.
The 32-year-old dominated the opener from pole position, leading home the newer Leon VZs of Sam Laidlaw and his father Steve. The latter recovered from being nerfed into the gravel on the first corner, one of several frontrunners to hit trouble or trip over each other.
Sunday morning’s reversed-grid race was held on a drying track, leading to diverging tyre choices. Shepherd and Callum Newsham – whose Hyundai i30 N retired from second in race one when leaking power-steering fluid caused a fire – opted for slicks but the crossover in pace didn’t occur until nearly half-distance. Meantime, wet-shod Laidlaw Sr opened a healthy advantage before eventually succumbing to the pair in the closing laps.
Newsham dived ahead of Shepherd on the opening tour of the finale and – after Shepherd spun two corners later – never looked troubled en route to victory. A couple of race suspensions helped Shepherd limit the damage as he charged to third. The duo were separated by 16-year-old Finn Leslie (Power Maxed Hyundai) who completed a fine debut by adding a maiden podium to a pair of fourth places.
Tin-tops from six decades earlier produced two thrilling Pre-’66 Touring Car races as Michael Cullen took both wins in his Lotus Cortina. The Irishman led home four similar cars – including teenage debutant Oliver Law – in the opener after passing Piers Grange’s Ford Mustang mid-race. But Sunday morning’s rematch was the highlight.
Greasy conditions were a leveller that allowed cars of all shapes and sizes to be in contention. Cullen’s Cortina managed to hold off the big V8 of Grange, who had slipped to sixth on Saturday as wilting tyres and a melting clutch took their toll. Barry Sime’s Morris Mini Cooper S, the straight-six powered Jaguar Mk2 of Grant Williams and Jake Swann’s Ford Anglia completed a top five covered by less than 2.1 seconds and representing four nationalities.
Having reclaimed his Cortina from son Oliver, Justin Law was left to rue a safety car – for Edward Crossley’s inverted Mini – that ate into the available laps for his charge from the back. Law had to settle for sixth, a further 5s adrift.
The BMW M3 E36 of Pre-’93 runner Ian Bower twice headed a batch also comprising Super Tourers, Pre-’83 and Pre-’03 sets. Comfortable Sunday success followed a closer Saturday contest when an early safety car brought the secondary grid onto the tail of a thin Super Tourers field. Bower then picked them off more easily than the similarly tooled Will Davison. Michael Cullen’s late bid in his newly built BMW M3 E30, running as an invitational entry on slick tyres, fell just 0.7s short at the flag after losing ground early on.
After AJ Owen’s Ford Mondeo suffered timing chain failure, Jim Pocklington twice took Super Tourers honours in his storied Vauxhall Cavalier. Pre-’83 laurels were split between Jonathan Corker (Datsun 510) and Mini Challenge Trophy champion Harry Hickton aboard father Dave’s Opel Kadett GT/E.
PLUS: The story behind the original Super Tourer
Running treaded tyres, Bower’s BMW also won the opening Classic Thunder contest in which rain falling from the start played into his hands against more powerful slick-shod cars. Colin Voyce’s Mountune turbo-powered Ford Escort Mk1 initially built a sizeable advantage but, as conditions deteriorated, Bower chased him down. Voyce clung on to victory in the dry race two as the M3s of Mike Cutt (E36) and Adrian Bradley (E46) loomed large in his mirrors, the trio covered by less than a second at the chequer.
Unusually, the Blue Oval Saloon Series was afforded its own standalone races. Andy Robinson swept to a double success aboard his mighty seven-litre Ford Falcon V8 Supercar.
Josh Selvadorai experienced a rollercoaster weekend in Junior Saloons. It could have yielded a hat-trick but in fact resulted in only a single win. Polesitter Selvadorai, the highest-placed driver continuing from 2024 having finished third in last year’s table, struggled with understeer and slipped to fifth in the wet race one. That was won by Wilf Butler, who executed a sublime move for the lead from the outside at McLeans via a cutback at Coppice.
Selvadorai bounced back to dominate the damp sequel and looked set for a repeat in race three only to be undone by a late safety car. Lewis Stannard vaulted from fifth to claim a maiden win, while Luca Masarati completed a hat-trick of podiums after inheriting second when Selvadorai was hit with a track-limits penalty.
After seven previous podium finishes, Lewis Kent finally secured his maiden Civic Cup victory. Beaten only by Alistair Camp’s FN2 in the opener, Kent then climbed from ninth to second in the first half of the reversed-grid sequel. He dived inside Harvey Caton at Redgate and, despite multiple left-rear lock-ups, held off Caton and Camp to the flag as Area Motorsport swept the top six places.
Four-time MG Owners’ Club champion Steve McDermid opened his account for 2025 with a brace, although son Jake pushed him hard in both races. A 32-car field included a record entry of 22 ZRs but the McDermids may as well have been in a class of their own, such was their superiority, as Lee Sullivan twice stood on the podium’s third step.
Pick of the four Caterham Graduates races was Sunday’s Sigma 150 thrash. Sigma 135 champion Paul Goldstein pipped Max Haynes by just 0.006s after the lead pack had sparred for 25 minutes. A mistake in the closing stages cost Will Stilwell the chance of a double, after dominating Saturday’s contest, as he slipped to seventh. Guest Adam Kene twice crushed the opposition in a packed Sigma 135 field.
