Heroics from Hill at Croft
After qualifying a superb 11th for round 13 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Croft, 22 year-old BRDC Rising Star was aiming to improve on his best-ever result of 9th from the previous round at Oulton Park in his RCIB Insurance Racing Toyota Avensis.
A superb start and a chaotic first corner which saw Lloyd tangle with Turkington, Tordoff run wide, and Abbott and Morgan collide, Hill blasted past the pits at the end of the first lap already up to 7th place.
Quickly catching double 2016 race winner Mat Jackson, Hill sliced past the Motorbase Ford at the hairpin in a decisive move and into 6th. Hill instantly pulled away, but the first of three safety cars added pressure on Hill with another race winner Rob Collard’s West Surrey BMW on his tail. As the laps counted down Hill withstood immense pressure from Collard and on the last laps caught Jordan, narrowly missing out on passing the 2013 champion - doing so would have netted a debut Win in the Independant’s category, in the end an outstanding 6th place and 2nd Independent was a fantastic achievement for the Kent-based driver.
“Qualifying was mega but in the race the car was awesome! We set the 5th fastest lap and fastest independent driver and I was so pleased to have got this result for the team and our partners. A huge thanks to Tony Gilham, Gary, Kingsley, Debbie and my boys Ian, Kieron, Peter and Elliot for all their work. This is just mega!”
A superb start and a chaotic first corner which saw Lloyd tangle with Turkington, Tordoff run wide, and Abbott and Morgan collide, Hill blasted past the pits at the end of the first lap already up to 7th place.
Quickly catching double 2016 race winner Mat Jackson, Hill sliced past the Motorbase Ford at the hairpin in a decisive move and into 6th. Hill instantly pulled away, but the first of three safety cars added pressure on Hill with another race winner Rob Collard’s West Surrey BMW on his tail. As the laps counted down Hill withstood immense pressure from Collard and on the last laps caught Jordan, narrowly missing out on passing the 2013 champion - doing so would have netted a debut Win in the Independant’s category, in the end an outstanding 6th place and 2nd Independent was a fantastic achievement for the Kent-based driver.
“Qualifying was mega but in the race the car was awesome! We set the 5th fastest lap and fastest independent driver and I was so pleased to have got this result for the team and our partners. A huge thanks to Tony Gilham, Gary, Kingsley, Debbie and my boys Ian, Kieron, Peter and Elliot for all their work. This is just mega!”
HILL LEADS COLLARD, TORDOFF, INGRAM, SHEDDEN IN ROUND 13 BTCC AT CROFT