TCR UK

Josh Price wins thrilling final TCR UK race of 2018

2 Mins read
Price-Donington-2018-TCRUK
Image Credit: TCR UK - Matt Sayle

With the championship honours all wrapped up by Dan Lloyd and WestCoast Racing in the first race of the weekend, the pressure was off for the 2018 TCR UK finale at Donington Park.

Thanks to the reversed-grid rule, Carl Swift started this race from pole position, however his lead at the front of the pack didn’t last beyond turn one. Instead, it was fellow front-row starter Josh Price who would charge ahead in first place, following a tidy overtake on Swift.

Lewis Kent‘s chances of ending the season on a high were all but lost pretty much immediately, as the youngster ran too deep into the first corner and dropped to the back of the pack after a trip through the gravel.

This year’s title contenders, Dan Lloyd and Ollie Taylor ran bumper-to-bumper in the early stages of this race. In a brave attempt to pass Taylor on the outside line of the circuit, Lloyd was tagged by his wayward rival in the slippery conditions, which allowed Andreas Backman to overtake the pair of them.

Ollie Taylor then attempted the exact same manoeuvre as Lloyd had on the following lap, and again was left with a similar result. This time in combat with Finlay Crocker, Taylor was the one to be on the receiving end of accidental contact this time. And just as had happened before, Andreas Backman was there to pick up the pieces.

Dan Lloyd, meanwhile, was quickly closing back up to this particular tussle. A couple of laps later, the newly-crowned champion showed his pedigree by getting ahead of Crocker for sixth place through the very narrow-but-fast Craner Curves section of the track.

Having got past Stewart Lines for third position, Andreas Backman had closed right up to the back of the other Cupra, driven by Carl Swift. However, as Swift defended, the pack bunched up behind him which allowed Lines to re-pass Backman for the final spot on the podium.

By this point, Swift’s brakes had developed an issue. As such, Lines got by with relative ease on the exit of the final corner of the circuit, and it wasn’t long before Andreas Backman and Dan Lloyd had passed the privateer as well.

It was now a question of whether or not Stewart Lines could hold on to second place, and therefore score his first ever podium result in TCR UK. To do so, he’d have to fend off the trio of WestCoast Racing Volkswagens, plus Ollie Taylor for good measure.

Determined to end the season on a high, Lines put in a valiant defence and held onto his position, while Dan Lloyd overtook a reluctant Andreas Backman to ensure that he finished 2018 with yet another top three result.

Out in front though, Josh Price was oblivious to all of this. As the rest of the pack squabbled behind, Price ran away with the race lead and held onto his substantial advantage all the way until the chequered flag was waved. In doing so, the youngster became the fifth different race winner in TCR UK this year.

Full Race Result:

[table id=3531 /]

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Juggling university essays with news and race reports from the World Touring Car Cup, TCR Europe and the TCR UK Series for TheCheckeredFlag.co.uk.
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