Joe Marshall tops opening TCR UK practice at Oulton Park
Joe Marshall led a Rob Boston Racing Audi one-two in practice for round three of the TCR UK season at Oulton Park, beating Jac Constable by just three-hundredths of a second.
Marshall’s time of 1:26.355 came in the closing stages of the 15-minute session around the shorter Island configuration of the Cheshire track and was enough to edge out previous fastest man Constable by a slender margin.
Alex Ley began the session – which produced no stoppages throughout – with the fastest time in his Hyundai i30 N TCR, going nearly a full second quicker than Constable’s first flying effort.
Behind was championship contender Carl Boardley and Brad Hutchison while Scott Sumpton’s Honda Civic Type-R completed the top six runners early doors.
Ley’s time of 1:27.398 would quickly be beaten many times over and it was Boardley who broke into the 1:26s after initially improving to second.
The quick-fire session stayed true to its billing in the closing stages as a flurry of fast times came in as the 15-minutes drew to a close.
Marshall hit the front with his penultimate run of the session, edging out Boardley by more than a quarter of a second, but he was immediately beaten by Chris Smiley’s Honda Civic Type-R.
Smiley in turn was usurped by Ley, whose time was bettered by Constable’s Audi as the times came tumbling down.
But it was Marshall who had the final word as he put in his best time to end the session a mere 0.033s quicker than his team-mate Constable.
Adam Shepherd was sixth quickest in the session behind Boardley, and just ahead of Jenson Brickley’s Cupra. Callum Newsham was eighth, while Matt Wilson and Luke Sargeant rounded out the top 10.
TCR UK points leader Bruce Winfield had a subdued start to his weekend, only managing to complete two laps and finish a lowly 20th position in his Area Motorsport Hyundai, some 11-seconds off the pace.
Next up is qualifying, which is scheduled to take place at 10:35 local time (11:35 CET).
