Double victory for Max Hart in TCR UK at Donington Park
Max Hart returned to victory in TCR UK after last year’s opening event; the Jamsport Racing driver steered his Hyundai i30 N car to a couple of authoritative wins at Donington Park. These results meant that he has extended the leadership in the standings to 45 points over Chris Smiley.
On Saturday, Smiley had claimed a second consecutive pole, beating Hugo Cook by 21 thousandths; the poleman started well, while Cook did not, and so Hart, Adam Shepherd and Isaac Smith stuck to the leader’s tail. Shepherd passed Hart for P2 and then moved on Smiley, their cars made contact in lap 2, Smiley went wide, pitted and rejoined after one lap. With smoke coming out of the front left wheel, Shepherd ran wide and so Hart took the lead. Behind them Lewis and Bradley Kent overtook Smith, moving into P3 and P4. The Kent brothers put the pressure on Shepherd; Bradley passed Lewis in lap 7 and then Shepherd one lap later. His brother had to fight for defending the position from Jamie Tonks; twice Tonks as able to overtake the reigning champion, but both times he made mistakes and eventually dropped behind Smith in P6. With three laps to go, Shepherd’s front left tyre gave up and he was forced to pit, which promoted Lewis Kent to third ahead of Smith and Tonks, while Hart won by 9.5 seconds over Bradley Kent. Lewis Kent was then dropped from third to fourth behind Smith by a 1.6-second penalty for causing an incident.
Bradley Kent missed the second race after his Hyundai stopped during the formation lap. Scott Sumpton and Matthew Wilson shared the front row of the reversed grid, but Anthony Whorton-Eales and Bradley Hutchinson who were third and fourth started better and led the field. Behind them Hart advanced to third ahead of Lewis Kent, Alex Ley and Smiley. During the first lap, Smith half spun in the chicane, which resulted in Wilson spinning off onto the gravel. The safety car was deployed and when the race resumed, in lap 5, Hart moved into second ahead of Hutchinson who made contact with Kent and dropped some places. Hart stole the lead from Whorton-Eales in lap 7, while there was a thrilling battle for P4 between Smiley, Alex Ley, Jac Constable, Bruce Winfield and Tonks. In lap 8, Kent tried to pass Whorton-Eales on the outside but went wide and dropped to tenth. In the following lap Smiley passed Whorton-Eales for second and the latter’s dream to bring the Subaru on the podium ended when he retired after his car was sandwiched between Ley’s and Hutchinson’s.
Hart had a solid margin and won from Smiley, while Winfield emerged in third place, after Constable made a mistake and dropped to sixth behind Tonks and Hutchinson.
TCR UK will resume on June 18/19 at Brands Hatch.
Donington Park – Race 1
1. Max Hart (Jamsport Racing, Hyundai i30 N), 16 laps
2. Bradley Kent (Essex & Kent Motorsport, Hyundai i30 N), 9.510
3. Isaac Smith (Race Car Consultants, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 19.264
Donington Park – Race 2
1. Max Hart (Jamsport Racing, Hyundai i30 N), 15 laps
2. Chris Smiley (Restart Racing, Honda Civic Type R), 3.957
3. Bruce Winfield (Area Motorsport, CUPRA), 5.699
Championship points
1. M. Hart 159 pts; 2. C. Smiley 114; 3. I. Smith 109
Picture: TCR UK/Jakob Ebrey
