Trade Price Cars Racing's Jake Hill once again scored vital championship points at Silverstone, bringing the Audi S3 home 11th - and impressively first of the drivers on slick tyres - on a soaking wet track in the final race of the weekend.
After a promising practice session, qualifying proved frustrating, with Hill ending up P22, but in race one some feisty battling saw the 25 year-old from East Farleigh in Kent finish P16.
"The car has been in and out of the performance window all weekend - great to move forward, I pulled off a couple of good moves to pass Moffat and Goff amongst others, so I'm ok with that as a result" said Hill.
Race two saw more up and down action, with Hill ultimately finishing again in 16th place.
However in the final race of the day Hill truly shone. As the rain started to fall, Hill made a superb start, immediately passing Proctor, Thompson, Caine and Turkington, and benefitting from Simpson's retirement to end lap one in P11.
Gaining places on Jordan and Ingram on lap two, Hill now up to P9 and dealing with the increasingly slippery conditions impressively as the Safety Car came out.
Several drivers took this opportunity to pit and put on the Dunlop BluResponse Wet-Weather tyres, and this would prove to be a race-deciding move for many later on.
At the re-start, Hill again began to make progress, benefitting from Sutton and Oliphant having pitted, leaving him now P7.
On lap 5, Hill squeezed past Jackson's Ford Focus, and when Smiley dropped Hill was now up to P5, but was then passed by Goff and Moffat who had stopped for wet tyres.
However Hill caught and passed Bushell's Honda a couple of laps later, and when Cook and Cammish collided at turn one a couple of laps later, Hill was now running in a remarkable P3, and first of the drivers still on slick tyres.
Now the rain was falling hard, and Hill somehow managed to keep his AmD Tuning.com run on the circuit, and maintained his position as first of the slick shod drivers, ultimately being passed by several drivers on wet tyres, but still staying in the points with a skilful drive to P11, and crucial points again.
"That was unbelievably tough! Obviously being on the Soft Tyres was a better choice initially, but fair play to Jack (Goff) who made the call for wets early and Won, well done to him and all at Team HARD, I know this win will mean a lot to them.
"I felt comfortable with the car for the first half of the race, and if it had stopped raining I was in a position to Win the race, but I'm really pleased with the job the team did, and felt I got all I could out of that race, great to have 'Won' the slick shod race! Also I want to say what a mega job my team mate Mark (Blundell) did in race three - finishing P13 and getting in the points - such a great guy and been an honour being his team-mate this year.
Hill was also keen to thank his partners who had joined him over the weekend
"We had over 100 guests with us, and I'm hugely grateful to everyone for joining us - we had guests from Aston Lark, Oodle, Racetruck, Ecoflam, Danfoss, ABGO, AWS, ScoriaTech and my good friend John Miskin who was as always on my side. Thanks so much to all the guys and girls at Trade Price Cars Racing and AmD Tuning for all their hard work. I can't believe there's only one race weekend left, but it's Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit which is my absolute favourite, can't wait!
Catch qualifying from Brands Hatch LIVE on line at itv.com/btcc at 3pm on Saturday 12th October, with all three races LIVE on ITV4HD on Sunday 13th October.
After a promising practice session, qualifying proved frustrating, with Hill ending up P22, but in race one some feisty battling saw the 25 year-old from East Farleigh in Kent finish P16.
"The car has been in and out of the performance window all weekend - great to move forward, I pulled off a couple of good moves to pass Moffat and Goff amongst others, so I'm ok with that as a result" said Hill.
Race two saw more up and down action, with Hill ultimately finishing again in 16th place.
However in the final race of the day Hill truly shone. As the rain started to fall, Hill made a superb start, immediately passing Proctor, Thompson, Caine and Turkington, and benefitting from Simpson's retirement to end lap one in P11.
Gaining places on Jordan and Ingram on lap two, Hill now up to P9 and dealing with the increasingly slippery conditions impressively as the Safety Car came out.
Several drivers took this opportunity to pit and put on the Dunlop BluResponse Wet-Weather tyres, and this would prove to be a race-deciding move for many later on.
At the re-start, Hill again began to make progress, benefitting from Sutton and Oliphant having pitted, leaving him now P7.
On lap 5, Hill squeezed past Jackson's Ford Focus, and when Smiley dropped Hill was now up to P5, but was then passed by Goff and Moffat who had stopped for wet tyres.
However Hill caught and passed Bushell's Honda a couple of laps later, and when Cook and Cammish collided at turn one a couple of laps later, Hill was now running in a remarkable P3, and first of the drivers still on slick tyres.
Now the rain was falling hard, and Hill somehow managed to keep his AmD Tuning.com run on the circuit, and maintained his position as first of the slick shod drivers, ultimately being passed by several drivers on wet tyres, but still staying in the points with a skilful drive to P11, and crucial points again.
"That was unbelievably tough! Obviously being on the Soft Tyres was a better choice initially, but fair play to Jack (Goff) who made the call for wets early and Won, well done to him and all at Team HARD, I know this win will mean a lot to them.
"I felt comfortable with the car for the first half of the race, and if it had stopped raining I was in a position to Win the race, but I'm really pleased with the job the team did, and felt I got all I could out of that race, great to have 'Won' the slick shod race! Also I want to say what a mega job my team mate Mark (Blundell) did in race three - finishing P13 and getting in the points - such a great guy and been an honour being his team-mate this year.
Hill was also keen to thank his partners who had joined him over the weekend
"We had over 100 guests with us, and I'm hugely grateful to everyone for joining us - we had guests from Aston Lark, Oodle, Racetruck, Ecoflam, Danfoss, ABGO, AWS, ScoriaTech and my good friend John Miskin who was as always on my side. Thanks so much to all the guys and girls at Trade Price Cars Racing and AmD Tuning for all their hard work. I can't believe there's only one race weekend left, but it's Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit which is my absolute favourite, can't wait!
Catch qualifying from Brands Hatch LIVE on line at itv.com/btcc at 3pm on Saturday 12th October, with all three races LIVE on ITV4HD on Sunday 13th October.
