Smiley wins TCR UK title with strong showing at Snetterton

Chris Smiley has won the 2022 TCR UK championship after a pole and a victory at the season finale in Snetterton, with a podium in the second race securing him the title ahead of Isaac Smith.

Race 1 - In the wet, Smiley took pole position from Alex Ley and Bradley Hutchison. However, Ley was sent to the back of the grid for an engine change, while Smiley’s chief rival Smith started from P4. Under heavy rain, the race started behind the safety car and when the green flag was waved, Smiley quickly broke away, with Bradley Kent moving ahead of Hutchison in P2. Kent then dropped to fourth after he went off wide, promoting Smith to third; Kent retired on lap ten with an electrical issue, while Smith overtook Hutchison at the start of lap 12 and then set the fastest lap of the race as he started to close down on Smiley while the circuit began to dry out. With Smiley’s large gap there was not enough time to close him down; Smiley held on to take his second win of the year and built an eight-point lead ahead of Smith heading into the final race.

Race 2 - Matthew Wilson started from pole on the reversed grid, with Smith and Smiley in P9 and P10 respectively. But it was Lewis Kent, who took the lead at the start and went to take a comfortable victory, the second for him in the season. All eyes were on Smith and Smiley who worked their way forwards, with Smith fighting his way up to third and Smiley right on his tail. There were some thrilling moments as the two championship contenders battled, with Smith fighting to stay ahead and keep his title aspirations alive, but on lap 16 Smith went wide at Riches and dropped to seventh, with Smiley cruising to finish third and easily scored enough points to take the title.

Smiley won the title with 392 points, 21 clear of Smith, with the title coming as a boost before the new champion heads to the FIA Motorsport Games next weekend to represent United Kingdom.

Snetterton – Race 1

1. Chris Smiley (Restart Racing, Honda Civic Type R), 16 laps

2. Isaac Smith (Race Car Consultants, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 5.769

3. Bradley Hutchison (MPH Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 9.811

Snetterton – Race 2

1. Lewis Kent (Essex & Kent Motorsport, Hyundai Veloster N), 18 laps

2. Jac Constable (Power Maxed Racing, CUPRA), 1.551

3. Chris Smiley (Restart Racing, Honda Civic Type R), 5.999

Championship points

1. C. Smiley 392 pts; 2. I. Smith 371 pts; 3. B. Winfield 321

Picture: TCR UK/Jakob Ebrey