Callum Newsham completes lights to flag victory in final Croft TCR UK race

Callum Newsham made it two TCR UK wins out of three at Croft, completing a lights-to-flag drive in damp conditions at Croft.

The JH Racing driver made the most of a clear road in front of him after starting from pole and headed home MPH Racing’s Brad Hutchison and Carl Boardley’s CBM with Hart GT Cupra.

Off the line, Newsham got a great getaway and led into the first corner, despite briefly going through the gravel trap on the exit, as Boardley moved past Hutchison to take second place.

Further back, Adam Shepherd proved that his previous issues with his Cupra were resolved by racing through the field from the back of the grid to run fourth at the end of the opening lap.

The safety car was then deployed on lap two as Bradley Thurston lost control of his Honda Civic Type-R at Clervaux, moments after Boardley nearly spun out of second place at the same corner.

Newsham led away at the restart as Hutchison got back ahead of Boardley for second, while Shepherd was right behind in fourth.

The pick of the battle further down the order was for fifth place as Darron Lewis’ Hyundai began to crawl all over the back of Steve Laidlaw’s Cupra. Lewis’ pace was too much for the Cupra and he moved into fifth with just under 10 minutes left.

As Newsham continued to edge clear from Hutchison to the tune of just over a second, the battle for third raged on between Boardley and Shepherd. The latter seemed to the be faster driver entering the closing stages but the reigning TCR UK Series champion was jhust able to hold position.

The order remained the same until the flag as Newsham took his second win of the weekend ahead of Hutchison, with Boardley coming home third

Behind Shepherd, Lewis was fifth ahead of Laidlaw and Will Beech, while Rick Kerry headed Stewart Lines’ Hyundai.

Mark Smith completed the top 10, as issues for Sam Laidlaw meant he finished two laps down in 11th.