Earlier this year, 2012 WTCC Champion Rob Huff announced the creation of Teamwork Huff Motorsport, lodging an entry in the 2019 TCR UK Touring Car Championship.
Despite the long offseason, Oulton Park was home to the series first round and also the debut of 2018 TCR China Drivers’ champion Sunny Wong, who is contesting the whole TCR UK season in a Volkswagen Golf GTi.
Despite virtually no knowledge of the circuit and the opening two rounds of the series taking place on the same day, Wong enjoyed a very positive debut. Qualifying in fourth place overall and third of the TCR UK runners, the Volkswagen driver adapted to both the track and the Dunlop tyres.
Wong adapted well to the Oulton Park circuit, taking a podium finish in race one. Credit: Teamwork Huff Motorsport
“It’s our first race meeting, and we don’t want to be too aggressive – as a foreign driver coming to the UK we want to set a good example, so in the future hopefully more drivers from our region will come to Europe,” said Wong.
In race one, the Teamwork Huff Motorsport driver suffered a poor start and fell back behind TCT runner James Turkington. Wong was able to get back past by lap three and opened up a large gap ahead of the SEAT Leon Supercopa, before taking third place overall.
Thanks to the final lap clash between leaders Ollie Taylor and Henry Neal, Wong confirmed in second place in the TCR UK results behind race winner Carl Swift.
Race two was a different affair as the Volkswagen driver, carrying 57kg of success ballast, was embroiled in a battle with Turkington, trying to find his way past the Northern Irishman but with no success.
Wong is hopeful of being joined by a team-mate in the team’s second Golf later in the season. Credit: Teamwork Huff Motorsport
Wong would have to settle for fifth, however, he finds himself second in the championship, ten points behind Swift heading to the next round.
“This weekend, learning everything in a day was a challenge. If we had a more typical two-day race meeting that would certainly have helped us, but we’re also used to running in championships with two cars or even more – and with more drivers sharing information and data we can improve faster.”
The 2018 TCR China Drivers’ champion is hopeful of being joined in the team for later rounds, which was the original plan for the team this year. This option is still on the table.
“As of right now, we only have one entry, but let’s see what happens for the rest of the championship, hopefully, we can find another driver and that could help us even further.”
