It could be a key contest in the battle for the Milltek Sport Civic Cup championship title this weekend (17-18 August) as the official TCR UK feeder series heads to Silverstone.
The British Grand Prix venue plays host to FOUR races on its quick-fire 1.64-mile National layout, with the scheduled triple-header supplemented by an additional race postponed from earlier in the season.
The championship race has been settling into a duel between Area Motorsport team-mates Max Edmundson and Josh Files but everything could change this weekend with a massive 170 points on offer.
It’s reigning champion Edmundson who leads the way by 36 points from his illustrious team-mate going into the weekend.
He has won five of the nine races staged to date but knows he can’t afford any slip-ups after retiring from the second contest at Croft last month.
Files, the multiple international touring car champion, has taken only two wins but consistency has been the name of his game, with podium finishes in all but one race.
The only other race winner so far in 2024 is another Area Motorsport driver, Alistair Camp. The 2021 title winner has twice topped the podium in reversed-grid races, including last time out at Croft.
But Camp has been less consistent as he leads development of the FN2 model car for Area while the EP3 remains numerically dominant. As a result, he is nearly 100 points off the pace in the championship race.
Area’s all-star line-up is completed by two-time TCR UK champion Lewis Kent and rising star Harvey Caton.
Tin-top multi-champ Liam McGill and Sam Kirkpatrick sit this weekend out.
Snapping at the heels of the Area Motorsport drivers are Ben Sharpe Racing’s cars.
Spencer Stevenson has been the standout star among this year’s newcomers and holds a big lead in the Paul Winfield Trophy standings for rookies and less experienced drivers, ahead of Josh Bromley (Bromley Motorsport with AMW Motorsport).
Stevenson lies fifth in the overall championship points, three places clear of team-mate Will Redford. The pair have recorded seven top-four finishes between them despite being magnets for bad luck at times.
Stepping into BSR’s third car this weekend is championship debutant Adam Durant who switches over from the Fiesta ST240 championship on the same bill.
The only non-Area/BSR driver currently in the championship’s top 10 is Dave Marshall who, like Camp, drives an FN2 Civic alongside his DMR with KA Car Sales team-mate Mark Hughes.
Marshall had one of his strongest weekends of the season last time out and is targeting his first podium finish this year. Hughes’s focus is on the Goodyear Diamond Award, for drivers aged 40 and over, where he currently leads the way from Simon Welch (Team Squelch).
Pro Alloys Racing welcomes a new face among its six-car entry this weekend. With team regular Owen Hillman stepping up to TCR UK, former VW Racing Cup race winner and TCR Scandinavia racer Dennis Strandberg makes his series debut.
The Swede will aim to lead the squad alongside Alex Kite, who already knows he will start Saturday’s first race (held over from Oulton Park in May) from the front row of the grid.
Goodyear Diamond Award competitor Garry Townsend also returns to the squad alongside its teenage starlets Harry England, Wesley Swain (who both drive FN2s) and Aydan Hassan.
Another returnee is Daniel Petters, who comes back into the fold at the family’s Team Petters Racing outfit alongside younger brother Jamie, having missed the last round when busy on the short oval scene.
Jamie – fourth in the Paul Winfield Trophy standings – had his best weekend last time out, recording his first overall top-six finish, so should be one to watch.
Elsewhere, the Lightning McQueen-liveried car of Scott Smith (DH Racing) returns to the fray, while Jack Ruddell (MJB Motorsport) will look to deliver on his promising pace after finally getting some return on his efforts last time out at Croft.
A very busy weekend schedule for the Milltek Sport Civic Cup begins with an early start for qualifying at 0930hrs on Saturday morning.
The rescheduled Round 8 of the championship then takes place at 1215hrs before Round 11 at the end of the day, timetabled for 1725hrs.
Two more races take place on Sunday: Round 12, the reversed-grid race is 0930hrs, then Round 13 rounds out the action at 1520hrs.
As ever, all the action will be streamed live on TCR UK’s YouTube channel.
You can still purchase tickets for the next event of the 2024 season, at Silverstone, from their website: https://www.silverstone.co.uk/events/BRSCC-TCR-Touring-Car
To find out more about the Milltek Sport Civic Cup visit https://civic-cup.co.uk/ for more info and how to get involved.
To find out more about the events on the 2024 Milltek Sport Civic Cup Calendar, visit https://civic-cup.co.uk/2024-season-calendar/ for more info.
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