Hill fights to triple-points finish in Snetterton BTCC battles
In front of over 35,000 enthusiastic spectators at Snetterton in Norfolk this weekend (31st July) the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car charged back into action with some thrilling racing and heart-stopping accidents which thankfully everyone emerged from shaken but unharmed.
Keen to build on his superb top-six finish at Croft last-time out, BRDC Rising Star Jake Hill once again demonstrated pace and race-craft, taking points in all three races for the first time this year.
Qualifying 17th - one of five drivers within 0.1 of a second - Hill immediately began making progress in race one, passing Simpson and Collard (who had passed Hill at the start) and then working hard to close and challenge Jack Goff’s BMW. Benefiting from Abbott and Moffat losing time and later electrical issues from Aron Smith, Hill worked his way up to 12th place overall.
“The car was really good but when I was challenging Goff my brakes and engine were getting so hot I had to back off a little after which the best of my tyres had gone. I was under pressure from Austin late on so was pleased to have moved forward yet again in race one”
Starting 12th and now on the soft ‘option’ tyre Hill immediately benefitted from James Cole’s retirement on the warm-up lap, only for the race to be stopped after a multi-car pile-up involving Ollie Jackson, Ashley Sutton, Hunter Abbott, Alex Martin, Kelvin Fletcher and Dan Welch whose Proton Persona was totally destroyed and Welch incredibly fortunate to walk away unharmed.
After a lengthy delay the race distance was reduced from 12 to 10 laps of the 2.96 mile circuit, and Hill immediately was battling with several drivers including Andrew Jordan, Warren Scott and Josh Cook - pulling off a sensational pass of Scott then Cook and holding them plus Andrew Jordan and Jeff Smith at bay over the closing laps despite the soft compound tyres badly losing performance.
“The tyres were fantastic early on and I was lapping quickly, but they dropped away so suddenly it made the last few laps really tough. I had a great battle with Scott, Jordan, Moffat, and Cook so was really pleased with my race - another great job by my RCIB Insurance Racing team”
After the drama and delays at the start of race two, no-one was prepared for what unfolded on the start-line at the beginning of the day’s final race. Midfield contact between Martin and Howard saw Hunter Abbott launched into a spectacular series of rolls, being collected by Ollie Jackson and then worryingly landing on top of the barrier and knocking over a camera scaffold. Incredibly the cameraman was unharmed despite falling from the scaffold as it fell over after Abbott collected it.
“The race was stopped immediately and we all stopped on the start line and waited for things to be sorted. The main thing of course is that everyone was ok, especially the cameraman, then it just was a long wait for everything to be cleared up before we could go again” said Hill.
As the cars came around to the start, championship leader Sam Tordoff sensationally retired from Pole Position, and on lap one the inevitable scrapping for position saw Hill moved ahead of Ingram but was barged wide allowing Cook and Jordan to edge past. Hill then fought up onto the tail of former champion Matt Neal, almost passing the Halfords Honda several times.
Later on Mat Jackson’s retirement moved Hill into 11th but under intense pressure from a recovering Tom Ingram who pushed Hill sideways at Wilson Hairpin, Hill then driving calmly and quickly to keep his long term rival and race winner Ingram’s newer-spec Avensis behind.
Hill was also pleased for team-mate Michael Epps who won his first Jack Sears Trophy for rookie drivers, and to welcome Michael Caine to the team for the balance of the season.
“To finally take decent points in a all three races - and with it come away with virtually no damage to the car - is testament to the job the team have done. I think it hurt us being the only driver not to attend the recent two-day test, but I’ve had some real battles and am proud to have fought and passed several manufacturer drivers.
We took a 4th, 5th and 6th in the Independent championship and I have moved up to 8th position in those standings which is superb as well.
As always a big thanks to RCIB Insurance and my fantastic supporters Brisky Racing, Sportif Motor Group, BAK Cladding, AWS Supply Services, online-media, The Ultimate Car Co, Thunder Toffee Vodka, Zynth, BTS Consultants, Omologato, Fujifilm, Borderland Fencing and lots of other great people who would rather not be mentioned.
Knockhill is only a couple of weeks away so now the focus is raising the funds for that race to keep building on our success so far” smiled Hill.
Next round Knockhill is 13th/14th August.
Keen to build on his superb top-six finish at Croft last-time out, BRDC Rising Star Jake Hill once again demonstrated pace and race-craft, taking points in all three races for the first time this year.
Qualifying 17th - one of five drivers within 0.1 of a second - Hill immediately began making progress in race one, passing Simpson and Collard (who had passed Hill at the start) and then working hard to close and challenge Jack Goff’s BMW. Benefiting from Abbott and Moffat losing time and later electrical issues from Aron Smith, Hill worked his way up to 12th place overall.
“The car was really good but when I was challenging Goff my brakes and engine were getting so hot I had to back off a little after which the best of my tyres had gone. I was under pressure from Austin late on so was pleased to have moved forward yet again in race one”
Starting 12th and now on the soft ‘option’ tyre Hill immediately benefitted from James Cole’s retirement on the warm-up lap, only for the race to be stopped after a multi-car pile-up involving Ollie Jackson, Ashley Sutton, Hunter Abbott, Alex Martin, Kelvin Fletcher and Dan Welch whose Proton Persona was totally destroyed and Welch incredibly fortunate to walk away unharmed.
After a lengthy delay the race distance was reduced from 12 to 10 laps of the 2.96 mile circuit, and Hill immediately was battling with several drivers including Andrew Jordan, Warren Scott and Josh Cook - pulling off a sensational pass of Scott then Cook and holding them plus Andrew Jordan and Jeff Smith at bay over the closing laps despite the soft compound tyres badly losing performance.
“The tyres were fantastic early on and I was lapping quickly, but they dropped away so suddenly it made the last few laps really tough. I had a great battle with Scott, Jordan, Moffat, and Cook so was really pleased with my race - another great job by my RCIB Insurance Racing team”
After the drama and delays at the start of race two, no-one was prepared for what unfolded on the start-line at the beginning of the day’s final race. Midfield contact between Martin and Howard saw Hunter Abbott launched into a spectacular series of rolls, being collected by Ollie Jackson and then worryingly landing on top of the barrier and knocking over a camera scaffold. Incredibly the cameraman was unharmed despite falling from the scaffold as it fell over after Abbott collected it.
“The race was stopped immediately and we all stopped on the start line and waited for things to be sorted. The main thing of course is that everyone was ok, especially the cameraman, then it just was a long wait for everything to be cleared up before we could go again” said Hill.
As the cars came around to the start, championship leader Sam Tordoff sensationally retired from Pole Position, and on lap one the inevitable scrapping for position saw Hill moved ahead of Ingram but was barged wide allowing Cook and Jordan to edge past. Hill then fought up onto the tail of former champion Matt Neal, almost passing the Halfords Honda several times.
Later on Mat Jackson’s retirement moved Hill into 11th but under intense pressure from a recovering Tom Ingram who pushed Hill sideways at Wilson Hairpin, Hill then driving calmly and quickly to keep his long term rival and race winner Ingram’s newer-spec Avensis behind.
Hill was also pleased for team-mate Michael Epps who won his first Jack Sears Trophy for rookie drivers, and to welcome Michael Caine to the team for the balance of the season.
“To finally take decent points in a all three races - and with it come away with virtually no damage to the car - is testament to the job the team have done. I think it hurt us being the only driver not to attend the recent two-day test, but I’ve had some real battles and am proud to have fought and passed several manufacturer drivers.
We took a 4th, 5th and 6th in the Independent championship and I have moved up to 8th position in those standings which is superb as well.
As always a big thanks to RCIB Insurance and my fantastic supporters Brisky Racing, Sportif Motor Group, BAK Cladding, AWS Supply Services, online-media, The Ultimate Car Co, Thunder Toffee Vodka, Zynth, BTS Consultants, Omologato, Fujifilm, Borderland Fencing and lots of other great people who would rather not be mentioned.
Knockhill is only a couple of weeks away so now the focus is raising the funds for that race to keep building on our success so far” smiled Hill.
Next round Knockhill is 13th/14th August.