TCR UK 2024

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

I can't see that being the grid

That's what BRSCC have published - https://brscc.co.uk/wp-content/uploa...9-May-2024.pdf

As with Brands, the names on the published list may not match who actually turns up.

[coffinpilot]

Originally Posted by SSmith

Also interesting to see Jeff Alden listed as racing an Audi RS 3 LMS TCR SEQ rather than the Opel Astra.

That would be a sensible move. There's plenty of them around, and it might lift him up in the gen one cup.

[Petoli]

TCR UK have released a preview of the weekend and their own entry list

https://www.tcr-uk.co.uk/tcr-uk-snetteron-preview/

RACE NO. DRIVER NAME TEAM MAKE & MODEL

1 CARL BOARDLEY CBM WITH HART GT CUPRA LEON COMPETICIÓN TCR
16 CALLUM NEWSHAM JH RACING HYUNDAI i30 N TCR
17 BRAD HUTCHISON MPH RACING CUPRA LEON COMPETICIÓN TCR
19 JEFF ALDEN MATRIX MOTORSPORT WITH DW RACING OPEL ASTRA TCR
22 RICK KERRY EDF MOTORSPORT CUPRA TCR
27 WILL BEECH CAPTURE MOTORSPORT VOLKSWAGEN GOLF GTI TCR
77 MARK SMITH RICHMOND FIRE MOTORSPORT CUPRA TCR
99 JOE MARSHALL ROB BOSTON RACING AUDI RS3 LMS TCR GEN II
100 STEVE LAIDLAW CAPTURE MOTORSPORT HYUNDAI i30 N TCR
115 LUKE SARGEANT AREA MOTORSPORT WITH R.S VEHICLE SALES CUPRA LEON COMPETICIÓN TCR
117 ADAM SHEPHERD AREA MOTORSPORT WITH SHEPHERD MOTORS CUPRA LEON COMPETICIÓN TCR
285 DARRON LEWIS DLR WITH JH RACING HYUNDAI i30 N TCR

[touring fan01]

only 12 cars

[samchevron]

Reading the TCR UK preview, it says that Will Powell is out due to a medical procedure and that Bloch's car isn't ready to go racing.

Meanwhile, Andersson is racing in TCR Europe this weekend, as thats his main championship this year that takes priority.

[v8supes]

Im going to say it and its not going to make me very popular at all but its a terrible look for TCR UK that Josh Files, Alistair Camp and Lewis Kent are racing in Civic Cup while the TCR UK grid numbers drop round by round.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by v8supes

Im going to say it and its not going to make me very popular at all but its a terrible look for TCR UK that Josh Files, Alistair Camp and Lewis Kent are racing in Civic Cup while the TCR UK grid numbers drop round by round.

I don’t think it’s much of an unpopular opinion! To be honest, with so few front-running cars this is the first race weekend in a while I haven’t bothered watching (didn’t see any reminders on social media either).

[SSmith]

Originally Posted by v8supes

Im going to say it and its not going to make me very popular at all but its a terrible look for TCR UK that Josh Files, Alistair Camp and Lewis Kent are racing in Civic Cup while the TCR UK grid numbers drop round by round.

For fear of repeating an oft-debated point on this forum, it is a reflection of the economic/costs situation in British motorsport as a whole.

The optics of TCR champions like Files and Kent, plus a TCR winner in Camp not being in TCR UK doesn't look great but it is a situation experienced by many across a wide-range of motorsport series in the UK ranging from smaller club series up to the BTCC, and also affecting historic racing.

In my opinion, TCR UK is not in a completely dire situation - yet. 8 Gen 2s + 4 Gen 1s this weekend is not great, but the grid may return to 15+ cars later in the season once Powell recovers from his "medical procedure", cars are prepared for Thurston and Bloch (among others), and when the series visits circuits like Oulton Park and Silverstone it may entice drivers. I don't expect a big grid at Croft (location) or Thruxton (costs/tyres) however.

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by SSmith

For fear of repeating an oft-debated point on this forum, it is a reflection of the economic/costs situation in British motorsport as a whole.

The optics of TCR champions like Files and Kent, plus a TCR winner in Camp not being in TCR UK doesn't look great but it is a situation experienced by many across a wide-range of motorsport series in the UK ranging from smaller club series up to the BTCC, and also affecting historic racing.

In my opinion, TCR UK is not in a completely dire situation - yet. 8 Gen 2s + 4 Gen 1s this weekend is not great, but the grid may return to 15+ cars later in the season once Powell recovers from his "medical procedure", cars are prepared for Thurston and Bloch (among others), and when the series visits circuits like Oulton Park and Silverstone it may entice drivers. I don't expect a big grid at Croft (location) or Thruxton (costs/tyres) however.

and i agree with most of that but only having 4 current generation cars is the real pointer to its problems and its future

its now becoming a series for cheap out of date tcr cars with a very small core of committed season long competitors

[SSmith]

Originally Posted by touring fan01

and i agree with most of that but only having 4 current generation cars is the real pointer to its problems and its future

its now becoming a series for cheap out of date tcr cars with a very small core of committed season long competitors

Yes, I think some conversations need to be had about what TCR UK looks like from 2025 onwards. Once it works out what it's function is and who its key demographic is, then perhaps that will guide its future. Some of that will depend on how grids bounce back for the rest of the year, and whether the ongoing economic situation ever improves.

It's 8 "current" (Gen 2) cars and 4 older (Gen 1) cars this weekend, although none of the 12 cars are still in production. The Leon Competicion was superseded by the Leon VZ in TCR Europe and World Tour this year, Audi have no manufacturer support, the i30 N is 6-7 years old, the Gen 1 Cupras, Golf and Astra are all 7-9 years old.

[Petoli]

TCR Grids everywhere seem to be down

Apart from TCR Italy and TCR Spain

Looking at TCR Championships in Europe they are all about 12-14 cars so TCR UK having a similar amount

a few cars were missing this round

Powell was out for a medical procedure, another driver should be back in a Honda for the next round and another Honda later in the season

Bloch cars still not ready for hand controls

The Lynk and Cos seem to be who knows. Apparently they have 2 and Bensley cars was not ready though why he could not race the car used by Andersson at Brands?

Interestingly Jenson Brickley who finished 3rd last year is doing TCR Spain this year in a New Cupra VZ

TCR UK grids are lower but it seems grids are down everywhere. Yeah you could ask drivers who were unable to get a BTCC drive. TCR UK could have been a good sideways step.

Why is that not a good alternative

[Andrew Abbott]

It's notable that three TCR championships racing in Europe today had:

TCR UK - 12 cars
TCR Eastern Europe - 12 cars
TCR Europe - 12 cars

Yes, the entry quality and 'newness' of the cars varies, but the problems affecting grids are not limited to any one country.

[Pit Lane Lurker]

Not a great weekend for TCR - the small grid is a problem, but you could overlook that if you had 12 cars providing some really entertaining racing. Sadly we didn’t even get that this weekend and the results / times kinda show it. I watched race 1 but didn’t bother with 2 and 3 - were those races any better than the first?

Don’t think the track helped out here - big long lap which probably exaggerate the spread out a lot more.

It wasn’t great though was it.

[coffinpilot]

Race 1 was terrible. It was only because the F1 was looking so poor that I gave race 2 a shot, and it turned out to be quite entertaining, as did race 3.

I think the two Bensley cars are down to money, and nobody wanting to pay what's needed. Also, with the Andersson family team running what are complicated cars at Brands, I wonder if pro alloys don't quite have the skills to do it?

As for Powell, his grand preseason testing didn't happen, and he only paid for round one on the eve of the season, could it be another BTCC style payment "problem"? I hope not, he looked handy in the FK7 considering he was so late into the car.

Of the cars on the grid yesterday a couple were not full season either. I think TCR needs the entry money from drivers to step up the game, but if they don't come it won't happen. A chicken and egg thing.

As for Brickley in the VZ, it does make you wonder. if we're honest Spain is a poor championship, if he doesn't win it I think it will make the season a bust.

as for numbers, remember, not only does Italy have a big field, it also has the TCR DSG and Coppa Italia championships - that's three big grids!!

[antnee]

Lines & co have put a lot of money into the championship over the last few years and arranged deals to get certain drivers on the grid. They can only sustain that for so long. This year should have been a big boost for the series, now being the headline act at each round along with having regular support series.

Its still a tough situation, people call out for a lower-cost touring car championship (than BTCC), one comes along with cars that have a much better business case - yet no one wants to race in it.

[coffinpilot]

Funny, I've just seen a post from Avon Tuning on Insta of a certain Mr Powell at a car show on a F1 Sim on race day.
Okay, a sim isn't a car, but if you've had back surgery surely you'd be at home recovering, or you'd be out doing things a little less stressful than sitting in a race seat.

It's not a good look for the driver, or sponsors, if he's out doing car things and not actually racing. First thing it makes you think is it One Motorsport and Team HARD all over again?

[coffinpilot]

Originally Posted by antnee

Lines & co have put a lot of money into the championship over the last few years and arranged deals to get certain drivers on the grid. They can only sustain that for so long. This year should have been a big boost for the series, now being the headline act at each round along with having regular support series.

Its still a tough situation, people call out for a lower-cost touring car championship (than BTCC), one comes along with cars that have a much better business case - yet no one wants to race in it.

Well said.
I think it's the TV that still sells though. If you're BTCC or TOCA support you can throw 'we have x amount of viewers live, or on highlights on network TV.'
British GT drivers who need to raise funds can quote the SRO YouTube channel and live of delayed on Sky Sports F1 (which must be paying off, the Silverstone round had far more spectators than in the last few years for GT.)

TCR drivers wanting a deal have the YouTube only thing as a sweetner. And the numbers don't really add up to grabbing £50,000 or £80,000 or whatever for a title sponsor. I have to say as well, some drivers who want to step up don't seem to want to put the work in to satisfy the demand. I mean, those who are there can afford it, or have the backing. Look at how Hutchison racing works - they have a sponsor with hospitality - other people should put that into their proposal. The days of wanting money for a few stickers are long gone. A TV deal for highlights would be great if there was a proper channel willing to run that. The last TV deal for 2022 was rubbish. The highlights ere poor, and the re-recorded commentary pointless, so I can see why it isn't there.

And the calendar isn't much good really. Races too close to BTCC rounds at the same tracks. I spoke to one driver on Sunday, I think from what I understand that TCR has just been put onto BRSCC club rounds as a headliner. They all wanted Knockhill and Donington, they didn't want Silverstone twice but they have no choice.

And also by the same conversation I get the impression that Thruxton will likely have a smaller grid than Snett. Some drivers are unwilling to pay the extra £2,000 for hard tyres for one round so will use it as their dropped score, and that points to a problem, that as is said just above, TCR are offering a 'cheaper' touring car experience for drivers, but a lot of those who are racing there have a budget that's big for club racing, but is being stretched to meet the real costs of a TCR machine.

Really hope it doesn't go down the drain, but the paddock and everything around it seems really down compared to last year.

[ScottS]

I ended up watching the livestream in bits and have just finished. I have to give a tip of the cap to Alpha Live and the team that brings all of the racing to our screens for the price of a few adverts. Even though some of the grids were small, I really enjoyed the action from the whole package. Although the Civic cup is the headline act for me, followed by the TCR's and then the Fiesta's. I'd say I'm enjoying this series more than the selection of formulas' on the BTCC package.

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by ScottS

I have to give a tip of the cap to Alpha Live and the team that brings all of the racing to our screens for the price of a few adverts.

Most of the cost comes out of competitor entry fees. Mini Se7ens weren't shown on the stream because they decided it wasn't worth the extra expense. Any YouTube ad revenue will be minimal.

[coffinpilot]

My only complaint was cutting to the pits during one TCR race. It didn't quite work.
Apart from that they do a decent job don't they? We've seen some total disasters over the years, like the TCR race at Combe where one of the cameras failed! Can't remember what company that was.

[SSmith]

https://www.touringcartimes.com/2024...ton-park-grid/

Stewart Lines is racing at Oulton Park in the Hutchison family's old Audi RS 3 LMS TCR Gen 1

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by SSmith

https://www.touringcartimes.com/2024...ton-park-grid/

Stewart Lines is racing at Oulton Park in the Hutchison family's old Audi RS 3 LMS TCR Gen 1

obviously to keep the grid number in double figures

[redshoes]

From Motorsport News this week, points leader Adam Shepherd only has the budget to do the next round at Oulton. Unless he finds more money his season will be over after that.

[ScottS]

Originally Posted by SSmith

https://www.touringcartimes.com/2024...ton-park-grid/

Stewart Lines is racing at Oulton Park in the Hutchison family's old Audi RS 3 LMS TCR Gen 1

Has anyone got Alan Gows number? Gow Vs Lines, the showdown anyone?

[coffinpilot]

Originally Posted by redshoes

From Motorsport News this week, points leader Adam Shepherd only has the budget to do the next round at Oulton. Unless he finds more money his season will be over after that.

That was the story last year, and the season before, and in club racing for him.....
Why buy such an expensive car if you can't afford to run it? For the price of that Cupra and a couple of rounds of TCR he could be dominating another series instead!