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About Jake Hill…
* BRDC Rising Star * 54 podiums - 135 races - 22 fastest laps up to end of 2016 * 24 Wins - 23 Podiums - 23 Pole Position |
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Where it all started...
Born on 22nd February 1994…sharing his birthday with Niki Lauda! Jake Hill was born in a motorsport environment, his Dad Simon racing in Formula Ford and Formula Renault single-seaters and Renault Spider, Lotus Sport Elise and Britcar, so was no surprise when motor racing held the appeal it did to Jake.
Lots of model cars, lego cars, radio control racing cars, Playstation racing games and a passion for all things motorsport from a very early age, it wasn’t surprising that Jake eventually persuaded his parents he wanted to race karts…with a long term ambition to race at Le Mans…
And when he’s not racing……
Jake is an Association of Racing Driver’s Schools (ARDS) Grade A Instructor - the highest grade possible to achieve, and one of the youngest instructors to attain that level.
Jake has been instructing since 2011 at the Brands Hatch Racing School, coaching drivers in BMW M4 sports saloons, and often giving high-speed passenger rides in the M4 and JP2 prototype. He also is the lead instructor for the Nissan GTR Owner’s Club, for Skoda’s VRs owners club, works for many manufacturers such as Ford, Mazda, Renault and Peugeot on product launch events, and coaches several drivers in their own cars and at race weekends in series such as Ginetta Junior, Ginetta Driver’s Club, Fiesta Junior, Historic Saloons and GT’s.
Having raced 1/10 scale radio controlled cars when he was younger, Jake’s new passion is flying radio controlled aircraft, his christmas present being a ‘Duct Fan’ jet capable of over 100mph!
Also a big fan of collecting Scalextrix and 1/18 model racing cars, Jake is still very committed at on-line racing on games like Gran Tourismo and Project Cars.
Music and movies are also a passion, a big fan of Drake and the Star Wars saga, also loves TV Comedy like Modern Family and drama like Silent Witness, and trains regularly at his local gym, Risebridge Health Club in Goudhurst, and spends as much time as possible with his girlfriend Hannah, or at home in Goudhurst with his parents Simon and Tina and 14 year-old sister Ellie.
Born on 22nd February 1994…sharing his birthday with Niki Lauda! Jake Hill was born in a motorsport environment, his Dad Simon racing in Formula Ford and Formula Renault single-seaters and Renault Spider, Lotus Sport Elise and Britcar, so was no surprise when motor racing held the appeal it did to Jake.
Lots of model cars, lego cars, radio control racing cars, Playstation racing games and a passion for all things motorsport from a very early age, it wasn’t surprising that Jake eventually persuaded his parents he wanted to race karts…with a long term ambition to race at Le Mans…
- Cadet Karting aged 8 in 2002 - team mate to Marussia F1 driver Max Chilton - won his novice class on his debut at Lydd…six events before funding issues forced him to stop
- Aged just 11 and still passionate about being involved in motorsport, started helping Porsche Carerra Cup team RedLine Racing at BTCC meetings - washing wheels, polishing the car, taking the tyres to be prepared…and making the tea of course…and getting to know how a professional team operated and drivers like Richard Westbrook and Tim Harvey.
- Returned to karting in Mini Max aged 13 in 2007 - winning four of five races at Bayford Meadows..racing against future Ginetta rivals Tom Ingram and Jody Fannin…
- Learned to drive a car aged 14 in his Dad’s Renault Clio 1.2 in a local supermarket car park!
- Tested a Ginetta Junior a couple of weeks later, then raced in the Ginetta Junior Winterseries, taking a remarkable 3rd place in only his second ever race weekend. This having asked drivers who he’d got to know in the Porsche paddock whilst helping out RedLine, for sponsorship to race in the Ginetta Winterseries….raising the necessary funds from several drivers who still help Jake to this day….
- Aged 15 in 2009 he put in the fastest time in testing for the opening round of Ginetta Junior at Brands Hatch ultimately qualifying on the front row of the grid a remarkable eleven times in twelve races - leading every race he entered - and taking three wins, five pole positions, five fastest laps, being fastest in testing four times out of six….Jake was forced to miss eight races mid-season due to lack of funds - but after a three month lay-off returned to the series at Brands Hatch GP, was fastest in testing, took a double Pole Position and Won both races…
- 2010 in the new Ginetta Junior G40 won 10 of the 20 races, 13 podiums, 9 Fastest Laps and 8 Pole Positions…finished runner up in the Championship, only losing out due to a penalty applied which docked 42 points…ultimately losing the championship by 40 points….was also inducted into the BRDC Rising Stars programme…and is proudly still part of this programme.
- 2011 moved into the 300bhp Ginetta GT Supercup…the youngest driver in the series…won four races, took four pole positions, four fastest laps and a remarkable 17 podiums in 27 races, finishing fourth overall in the championship.
- 2012 despite starting the season after 9 races had been completed, took a superb win in the Ginetta GT Supercup in a Ginetta G55 at Snetterton, plus a further six podiums.
- 2013 debut in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship racing with Motorbase Performance…taking a Win in the Jack Sears trophy in his first ever race …then racing in the NGTC class with RAR Exocet Racing, qualifying 10th ahead of team mate Rob Austin, Mat Jackson, Dave Newsham and Matt Neal and finishing in the points in all three races.
- 2014 Porsche Carerra Cup GB…in the opening round at Brands Hatch in March took a 3rd place in race one and second in race two ahead of eventual champion Josh Webster…returned to the series seven months later at Brands GP and went from last on the grid to an amazing 3rd.
- Also raced in the Atom Cup taking four wins from four races, plus two Pole Positions and the lap record at Rockingham.
- 2015 raced for Amd Tuning in British GT in a Porsche 997…fastest in practice on two occasions, led at Silverstone and went from last to 3rd at Spa Fracorchamps
- … raced for In2 Racing in Mobil 1 Porsche Supercup at the British GP at Silverstone, qualifying ahead of the French and British Porsche champions, and running in the top ten until taken out.
- Returned to the British Touring Car Championship with AmD Tuning in the final race at Brands GP in their Audi A3, qualifying the car higher ever than before and running ahead of Jack Sears champion Josh Cook and two-time BTCC champion Alain Menu
- Also tested for Manor Competiton in Formula Renault at Brands Hatch in 2010.
- For HEICO Motorsport in their Mercedes Benz SLS GT3 at Portimao in 2012.
- For AmD Tuning in their BTCC Ford Focus at Snetterton in 2014.
- For Villorba Corsa in their Ferrari 458 GT3 at Paul Ricard in 2015….posting competitive times on every occasion…despite limited time in each car….
- 2016 - First full season in BTCC - Team HARD Toyota Avensis - scored points in 17 of 30 races, 7 top-ten finishes including a career-best of 5th at Silverstone - was voted ‘HiQ Fans Driver of the Day’ for his performance there…also awarded ‘Dunlop ForeverForward’ award at Oulton Park for most places gained in a race weekend (23) and in the end of year BTCC review was ranked 6th (of 38) by the BTCC team managers as drivers who had impressed them most in 2016….ahead of BTCC legends and former champions Jason Plato and Matt Neal and fellow young-guns Tom Ingram and Aron Smith ….Jake was the only driver in the review not to have won a race - testament to how much he had made his mark…
And when he’s not racing……
Jake is an Association of Racing Driver’s Schools (ARDS) Grade A Instructor - the highest grade possible to achieve, and one of the youngest instructors to attain that level.
Jake has been instructing since 2011 at the Brands Hatch Racing School, coaching drivers in BMW M4 sports saloons, and often giving high-speed passenger rides in the M4 and JP2 prototype. He also is the lead instructor for the Nissan GTR Owner’s Club, for Skoda’s VRs owners club, works for many manufacturers such as Ford, Mazda, Renault and Peugeot on product launch events, and coaches several drivers in their own cars and at race weekends in series such as Ginetta Junior, Ginetta Driver’s Club, Fiesta Junior, Historic Saloons and GT’s.
Having raced 1/10 scale radio controlled cars when he was younger, Jake’s new passion is flying radio controlled aircraft, his christmas present being a ‘Duct Fan’ jet capable of over 100mph!
Also a big fan of collecting Scalextrix and 1/18 model racing cars, Jake is still very committed at on-line racing on games like Gran Tourismo and Project Cars.
Music and movies are also a passion, a big fan of Drake and the Star Wars saga, also loves TV Comedy like Modern Family and drama like Silent Witness, and trains regularly at his local gym, Risebridge Health Club in Goudhurst, and spends as much time as possible with his girlfriend Hannah, or at home in Goudhurst with his parents Simon and Tina and 14 year-old sister Ellie.
