Jake Hill wins race one in changeable conditions at Silverstone

MB Motorsport’s Jake Hill emerged victorious in the opening British Touring Car Championship race of the day at Silverstone, with changeable conditions mixing up the order following rain as the race got underway.

Before the lights even went out at the start there was drama, as Power Maxed Racing’s pole-sitter Mikey Doble mistakenly set off for a second formation lap around the short Silverstone National circuit.

That meant he forfeited pole, starting at the back of the field. Eight drivers, Hill and Andrew Watson included, had elected to put wet tyres on their cars on the grid, and a further five, Daniel Lloyd and George Gamble included, pitted for wets at the end of the formation lap.

When the lights went out, Hill leapt into the lead, as the now de-facto pole-sitter Colin Turkington made a sluggish start, dropping to third behind EXCELR8’s Tom Ingram.

Turkington’s race would effectively end further around the opening lap, after contact from One Motorsport’s Josh Cook, who in turn had been tagged at Luffield.

Ingram was in second for the first lap, but soon struggled to keep pace on dry tyres. After dropping five places on the second tour, Ingram then spun at Becketts on lap three and dived for the pits at the end of the lap for wet rubber.

The Hyundai driver followed championship leader Ash Sutton and NAPA Racing’s Dan Cammish into the pits for a tyre change, dropping the trio to the back. For Cammish it would mark the end of his race as he failed to rejoin thereafter.

Hill ultimately scampered clear at the front, winning by over five seconds to now assume second place in the drivers’ championship.

Daniel Rowbottom took second, having fought past Power Maxed’s Watson for the place on lap 19 on the exit of Luffield, having applied pressure for several laps prior.

Watson nonetheless completed the podium – his second visit to the rostrum this year – to give the team some cheer after Doble’s earlier error.

Adam Morgan was the leading Team BMW driver in fourth, fighting past Sam Osborne on lap 11 and then Team HARD’s Bobby Thompson six laps later.

Thompson brought his CUPRA home in a strong fifth on his return to the championship, ahead of Toyota’s Rory Butcher – the leading dry tyre runner – in sixth.

Those on the dry rubber found their cars being the fastest in the field in the final half of the race, with Butcher and Power Maxed’s Árón Taylor-Smith gaining five and six places respectively in the second half, the Irishman taking the chequered flag in seventh.

Osborne brought his Valvoline-liveried Ford home in eighth, with the top ten being completed by Cook and Lloyd, the former getting by on the last lap of the race.

After his earlier error, Doble put in a determined drive to 11^th, ahead of Crees in 12^th.

EXCELR8’s Tom Chilton got by Daryl DeLeon for 13^th on the last lap, but Team HARD racer DeLeon finished in 14^th for his first-ever points finish. Toyota’s George Gamble completed the points-paying positions.

Points leader Sutton was only 23^rd, as like Ingram he had gone a lap down when he made a late pitstop call, before conditions swung to favour those on the dry rubber. Ingram was 22^nd, ahead of his key rival, but with no points scored, Sutton now leads Hill by 41 points, with 111 still up for grabs.

Race two is scheduled to get underway at 14:25 BST.

Race results

POS	NO	CL	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP	GD
1	24	M		Jake HILL	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	BMW 330e M Sport	22	23:37.153	1:03.578	4
2	32	M		Daniel ROWBOTTOM	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	22	5.355	1:03.862	13
3	11	I		Andrew WATSON	CarStore Power Maxed Racing	Vauxhall Astra	22	7.430	1:03.753	12
4	33	M		Adam MORGAN	Team BMW	BMW 330e M Sport	22	19.464	1:04.266	11
5	19	I		Bobby THOMPSON	Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils	CUPRA Leon	22	20.642	1:04.421	18
6	6	M		Rory BUTCHER	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	22	21.197	1:03.131	9
7	40	I		Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	CarStore Power Maxed Racing	Vauxhall Astra	22	22.257	1:02.449	8
8	77	M		Sam OSBORNE	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	22	22.776	1:04.121	10
9	66	I		Josh COOK	One Motorsport with Starline Racing	Honda Civic Type-R	22	27.538	1:03.292	15
10	123	I		Daniel LLOYD	Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils	CUPRA Leon	22	29.078	1:04.240	21
11	88	I		Mikey DOBLE	CarStore Power Maxed Racing	Vauxhall Astra	22	29.926	1:02.541	1
12	777	I		Michael CREES	Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils	CUPRA Leon	22	33.983	1:04.069	25
13	3	M		Tom CHILTON	BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	22	36.002	1:03.074	6
14	18	I		Daryl DELEON	Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD.	CUPRA Leon	22	36.007	1:05.149	22
15	42	M		George GAMBLE	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	22	38.320	1:03.491	23
16	99	I		Jade EDWARDS	One Motorsport with Starline Racing	Honda Civic Type-R	22	42.347	1:04.270	27
17	16	I		Aiden MOFFAT	One Motorsport with Starline Racing	Honda Civic Type-R	22	44.334	1:02.680	20
18	17	I		Dexter PATTERSON	Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD.	CUPRA Leon	22	47.163	1:03.831	19
19	12	M		Stephen JELLEY	Team BMW	BMW 330e M Sport	22	48.038	1:04.457	17
20	37	M		Ricky COLLARD	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	22	48.280	1:02.559	16
21	96	I		Jack BUTEL	Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown	CUPRA Leon	22	48.551	1:04.220	24
22	1	M		Tom INGRAM	BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	21	+ 1 LAP	1:02.780	3
23	116	M		Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	21	+ 1 LAP	1:03.310	5
24	14	M		Ronan PEARSON	BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	21	+ 1 LAP	1:03.925	14
25	22	M		Nick HALSTEAD	BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	21	+ 1 LAP	1:04.292	26
R	4	M		Colin TURKINGTON	Team BMW	BMW 330e M Sport	14	DNF	1:03.929	2
R	27	M		Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	4	DNF	1:07.699	7