Jake Hill believes that both the Audi S3 and the AmD Tuning squad he returns to this year have “improved massively” since he last drove the car in 2015.
The Kent racer scored his maiden podium in race two at Brands Hatch last year, but parted ways with the Team HARD squad mid-season.
He will be contesting the 2019 British Touring Car Championship in the new Trade Price Cars Racing squad – an operation which is overseen by AmD.
Hill last drove for the squad in a one-off outing in 2015, and he told TouringCars.Net that both the car and the team have come along since then.
“The car feels a million times better than it did the first time I drove it, four years ago now,” said Hill.
“It’s lovely, the team has improved massively since I was last here so all in all I’m very happy.
“We’re just looking forward – we’re not here to go quickest – we’re here to collect data as it’s quite a new setup we’ve got underneath the car and we’re just looking forward.”
Hill feels glad to be working with familiar faces again this season, and is grateful for the faith AmD Team Principal Shaun Hollamby has shown in him.
“It’s no lie I wasn’t very happy where I was before, so coming back to AmD has made me very happy indeed,” he said.
“The boys have welcomed me with open arms, and especially Shaun [Hollamby] at AmD, I can’t thank the boys enough for everything they’ve done so far.
“I’ve got a smile on my face again, which is all that matters.”
He has former F1 driver and Le Mans winner Mark Blundell as a teammate this season, and is enjoying helping him get up to speed, but believes it won’t be long before he is on the pace.
“I’m helping him to get to a certain point, obviously there’s going to be a point where he’s going to be fast. There’s no two ways about it, he’s very experienced,” said Hill.
“He will get his head around it – it’s a very steep learning curve. But you can’t think of him as Mark Blundell, you’ve got to think of him as a newcomer to a touring car, which is exactly what he is.
“And I think it’s hard for people to accept that because he is Mark Blundell. “For me, he’s my teammate for this year and I’m going to help him as much as I can and I’m sure there’ll be a point where he’ll help me as well.
“So we’ve got a really great friendship first and foremost and a great working relationship – so far I’m loving it with Mark – it’s really good.”