TCR UK 2023

[Andrew Abbott]

Thanks, that's nice to hear. These are uncertain times for touring car racing...

[annasto]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

Brad Kent not entering the final round.
Has been a very poor year - they've looked disenchanted with the whole thing.
Does have me thinking about how many will be back next season from the current year.

Brads driving an FN2 Civic for Pro Alloys racing in Civic Cup this weekend. Lewis Kent is also in, having done Silverstone too for Area Motorsport

[coffinpilot]

George Jaxon now entered in a Gen 2 Cupra on the latest entry list.

Just cancelled my hotel for Sat Night, decided to stay home this weekend with the weather up'North being what it is!

[Evantra]

Seems everyone here is super excited by the finale

Nice to see Boardley win it after never really getting the rub of the green of it in the BTCC. Guesses as to which midfield BTCC driver will come over and win next season?

Nightmare year for Smiley and the new Honda. Wonder if they’ll stick with the program or look elsewhere.

Brickley was greatly impressive to finish 2nd, not sure anyone would’ve expected him to finish there after coming in much as an unknown. Similar to Ley last year.

Probably the best season of TCR UK yet, although shame the grids seemed to fluctuate again through the year. Hopefully we see growth again through the winter to keep it firmly in the 20s next year. Not sure if the Gen 1 cup will help too much.

Much like last year, it seems reliability issues are the series’ biggest problem. Whether that’s the fault of the championship, teams, budgets (a given) or just bad luck is up for debate, but so many drivers have had a year completed wasted through breakdowns. From the outside, I can presume a few might not be overly keen to return.

The streams and comms I thought were good, although wish Paul would stop with the random squeaks and squeals and personally not the biggest fan of Anthony Jordan.

Glad next year’s calendar doesn’t have the gap of around 2 months until the final meeting.

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by Evantra

The streams and comms I thought were good, although wish Paul would stop with the random squeaks and squeals and personally not the biggest fan of Anthony Jordan.

I'm not a fan of Paul's commentary. His comms on the BTCC supports are just about bearable, buit his TCR comms, especially today, are just awful.

whoaaaaaahhhhh !!!!! nooooo !!!! get in captain !!

[SSmith]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Seems everyone here is super excited by the finale

Nice to see Boardley win it after never really getting the rub of the green of it in the BTCC. Guesses as to which midfield BTCC driver will come over and win next season?

Nightmare year for Smiley and the new Honda. Wonder if they’ll stick with the program or look elsewhere.

Brickley was greatly impressive to finish 2nd, not sure anyone would’ve expected him to finish there after coming in much as an unknown. Similar to Ley last year.

Probably the best season of TCR UK yet, although shame the grids seemed to fluctuate again through the year. Hopefully we see growth again through the winter to keep it firmly in the 20s next year. Not sure if the Gen 1 cup will help too much.

Much like last year, it seems reliability issues are the series’ biggest problem. Whether that’s the fault of the championship, teams, budgets (a given) or just bad luck is up for debate, but so many drivers have had a year completed wasted through breakdowns. From the outside, I can presume a few might not be overly keen to return.

The streams and comms I thought were good, although wish Paul would stop with the random squeaks and squeals and personally not the biggest fan of Anthony Jordan.

Glad next year’s calendar doesn’t have the gap of around 2 months until the final meeting.

Arguably the best season of TCR UK when considering drivers, entries, and streams together. The streams from AlphaLive for the BRSCC have taken a step forward in reliability and video quality this year. I've always been a fan of Paul O'Neill and I think the broadcasting operation will likely improve with time.

I was happy to see Boardley take the title, by far the most consistent performer this season. His season is also a lesson in perseverance given he was apparently close to quitting the series after an unsuccessful weekend at Snetterton. It'll be interesting to see what he does next year - defend his title, have a go at something else, or even return to the BTCC?

I'm not fully convinced by the new Gen 1 cup. Whilst it will give the likes of D Wilson, Alden, Jaxon, Kerry, and Smith, plus whoever now owns Dan Lloyd's old VW Golf something to aim for, I can't see an influx of old CUPRAs and old Audis appearing, and I doubt someone would take a punt and buy and race other "Gen 1" cars like the VW Golf, Alfa Giulietta, and Peugeot 308. And a small part of me wonders if these Gen 1 cars and drivers may be nothing more than moving chicanes causing safety cars...

In terms of reliability, it does seem like TCR UK suffers more from it than other TCR series. Driving standards have also been very hit and miss (pun intended).

The Honda Civic FL5 has been the biggest disappointment, I would have expected Smiley, Restart, and JAS to have sorted some of these issues out. Its interesting that Ruben Volt has won two TCR Europe races in an FL5 this year (although admittedly that series isn't exactly in good health and was in essence the Audi Trophy). And on the subject of TCR Europe, I wonder what Lewis Brown could have achieved if he'd stayed in TCR UK rather than heading to Europe?

[Evantra]

Did Isaac Smith see out his TCR Europe season? I don’t think he did?

[Adamcas87]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Did Isaac Smith see out his TCR Europe season? I don’t think he did?

No he didn’t , just disappeared from then

[antnee]

He gets a lot of stick, but Stewart isn't a silly guy. For them to come up with the Gen1 cup, there must be enough people saying they want to race but know they can't compete at the front with their current machinery. There are a lot of cars used over the past few seasons which haven't been used at all this year.

If it keeps the 5 or so cars still racing this season then adds another 5, will we suddenly have grids in the high 20s and potentially a decent sub-class of the main event.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Nightmare year for Smiley and the new Honda. Wonder if they’ll stick with the program or look elsewhere.

To answer my own question, as has been fairly apparent for a while now there’s a second FL5 on the way for Sumpton in two weeks. I guess they could go to TCR Europe or something but it seems most likely we can pencil them in for next year.

[annasto]

There must be a lot of older cars out there. Isaac Smith managed to finish second in the Championship in a Golf, so it makes you wonder how much difference there really is? 2022 had a few Audis, Golfs and Cupras that weren't miles off the pace

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[redshoes]

Originally Posted by Evantra

To answer my own question, as has been fairly apparent for a while now there’s a second FL5 on the way for Sumpton in two weeks. I guess they could go to TCR Europe or something but it seems most likely we can pencil them in for next year.

I believe Sumpton already has the car. The 2 weeks in Bert Taylor's social media post was a reference to the Spanish TCR series at Jerez in couple of weeks where Sumpton will be racing the FL5 (also at Catalunya a couple of weeks after that)

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by annasto

There must be a lot of older cars out there. Isaac Smith managed to finish second in the Championship in a Golf, so it makes you wonder how much difference there really is? 2022 had a few Audis, Golfs and Cupras that weren't miles off the pace

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In TCR UK you can get results with an older but reliable car.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by redshoes

I believe Sumpton already has the car. The 2 weeks in Bert Taylor's social media post was a reference to the Spanish TCR series at Jerez in couple of weeks where Sumpton will be racing the FL5 (also at Catalunya a couple of weeks after that)

Saw that too. All but confirms Sumpton will be staying next year then.

[coffinpilot]

Sumpton is off to Europe next year, it was discussed in the paddock at the weekend.
He's taking an FL5 to the last two rounds of the Spanish series (not sure where it's from,) but his own car won't be used until TCR Europe next season.

The other story being that Smiley was in the BTCC paddock at Brands pushing for a switch back there, with the sale of his FL5 helping the budget - the added part to that being he was apparently a 'little influenced by hospitality' by the end of the BTCC meeting!

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

Sumpton is off to Europe next year, it was discussed in the paddock at the weekend.
He's taking an FL5 to the last two rounds of the Spanish series (not sure where it's from,) but his own car won't be used until TCR Europe next season.

The other story being that Smiley was in the BTCC paddock at Brands pushing for a switch back there, with the sale of his FL5 helping the budget - the added part to that being he was apparently a 'little influenced by hospitality' by the end of the BTCC meeting!

So that will be a blow to TCR UK then if Restart are gone altogether? Or are there still plans to run with different drivers? Now that you say this, the way Paul O’Neill was praising the team in comms, it did sound like he knew their return was up in the air.

Smiley I believe was linked to Toyota in the BTCC before switching to TCR, although that probably means little two seasons on.

[coffinpilot]

New version of the Cupra coming, or an update package for the current one, costing £30,000, and rumours that Mr Lines has bought some Australian based Pug 308s that will land over the winter, with a lot of interest from current teams.

[jsmee]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

New version of the Cupra coming, or an update package for the current one, costing £30,000, and rumours that Mr Lines has bought some Australian based Pug 308s that will land over the winter, with a lot of interest from current teams.

That's exciting, I've been itching to see some 308s in the UK

[annasto]

Originally Posted by jsmee

That's exciting, I've been itching to see some 308s in the UK

Carl Boardley posted a photo of a Peugeot front grill yesterday....

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