Adam Sheperd dominates TCR UK opener at Donington Park

Adam Shepherd controlled the first TCR UK race of 2025 at Donington Park despite a safety car interruption, a race which saw just ten cars taking the chequered flag.

The Cupra driver started from pole and got a good getaway as the safety car headed out on track due to an incident at Turn 1.

Steve Laidlaw (Cupra) was pushed into the gravel trap by Brad Hutchison (Cupra), with Audi driver Jeff Alden also spinning off in the same corner in a different incident.

Both drivers were able to rejoin the race and Shepherd made a strong restart as the safety car headed in.

But Hyundai driver Callum Newsham started to pile the pressure on the Cupra driver for the lead, a fight which unfortunately did not last for long.

Newsham’s Hyundai started to leave a smoke trail and soon slowed down, with a brief fire breaking out beneath the car as he retired to the pits.

As the race hit mid-point, Sam Laidlaw was right on the tail of Hutchison in the fight for second place.

The two made contact at Turn 1 on lap seven, with Hutchison going wide onto the grass and dropped down the order to soon stop by the side of the track with seemingly an overheated engine.

Steve Laidlaw was slicing through the field from the back of the pack after his incident on the first lap and caught TCR UK debutant Finn Leslie in the fight for third with three laps left.

The two went side-by-side several times, with Laidlaw finally making the move stick on lap 13.

Shepherd won the race by a comfortable 6.5 seconds over Sam Laidlaw, while Steve Laidlaw was 21 seconds behind in third.

Leslie came home a strong fourth ahead of Rod McGovern (Hyundai) and Mark Smith (Cupra).

Stewart Line was unable to take part in the race due to technical issues with his Lynk & Co.

The second race of the season opener starts at 10:35 local time/11:35 CET on Sunday.