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Callum Newsham storms to dominant TCR UK pole at Croft

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JH Racing Hyundai’s Callum Newsham claimed a dominant pole position for the opening race of the weekend at Croft, beating Brad Hutchison by almost a full second in qualifying.

Newsham, who lay third in the standings heading into the weekend, picked up six points for the fastest time in the half-an-hour session, setting a best effort of 1:31.098.

The MPH Racing Cupra of Hutchison emerged as Newsham’s closest challenger, albeit ending up nine-tenths of a second in arrers in second, and a quarter of a second clear of defending TCR UK Series champion Carl Boardley.

Newsham was on the pace from the start of the session, initially going nearly two seconds quicker than Hutchison on his first attempt, while Boardley briefly moved into second place approaching the halfway point.

There were improvements from both Boardley and Hutchision but Newsham improved twice more to cement his advantage to secure the pole.

Sarting fourth on the grid will be Goodyear Diamond Award leader Darron Lewis’ Hyundai, ahead of Steve and Sam Laidlaw, the father-and-son combination running a Cupra and Hyundai respectively.

Bradley Thurston set the seventh-fastest time in his Honda Civic Type-R, with Will Beech’s Volkswagen eighth ahead of Stewart Lines.

Rick Kerry’s EDF Motorsport Cupra completed the top 10.

Race one at Croft is scheduled to start at 15:55 BST.