Jake Hill: ‘We’ve just got to go for it’

Laser Tools Racing’s Jake Hill was unfazed to have been beaten by his championship rivals in qualifying for the British Touring Car Championship finale, saying he just ‘has to go for it’ on race day.

Having been fourth and fifth fastest respectively in his Q1 and Q2 group, Hill ultimately qualified his BMW in sixth for Sunday’s opening race, having posted a time which was four tenths of a second slower than he had gone in Q2.

That means he starts behind Tom Ingram, with whom he is tied on points at the top of the drivers’ standings, and Ash Sutton, who put his Ford in third for race one.

Hill believes that the issue that caused him to lose time in Q3 at the rear of his car will be a ‘simple fix’ and he is going to go ‘no holds barred’ in the opening sprint to take the fight to his rivals ahead.

“Let’s be honest, Tom’s always been super quick around here in qualifying and when we haven’t got the hybrid we have struggled a bit for outright pace,” explained Hill to TouringCars.Net.

“As we’ve seen in the last few rounds, we’re extremely good on race day. I’m more than close enough to go and have a go and to try and get this championship across the line.”

Hill is buoyed by the fact that, unlike his closest rivals, he has stable-mate Colin Turkington, who took pole position, in the best possible position to assist him.

“I still feel really positive and I’ve got a good team-mate who’s alongside Tom. It’s going to be really interesting to see how it all plays out tomorrow.

“Ultimately, we’ve just got to go for it – no holds barred and just go and get it!”

Hill is hoping to maximise his advantage at the start to make quick progress from the third row of the grid.

“Our start is going to be crucial to try and maximise the advantage we have off the line. Then we’ll just see how it plays out.

“Ultimately, it’s not too bad to go forward around here, but the people around us are fast. You’ve got [Josh] Cook and Ash, and ultimately I need Ash to try and get involved with Tom tomorrow – the only way he’s going to have any chance of beating us is by beating us, so he’s got to get involved with Tom and get past.

“I think Ash is incredibly fast as well – he should have been our pole man today, so he’s got the speed to do it. From my side, that’s good.”

With a chance of rain in the opening race tomorrow, Hill admits he isn’t bothered by what the conditions bring.

“There’s a risk of it being wet for race one at least, but races two and three look like they’re going to be dry. It might not be quite as nice as today, but that’s fine.

“If it’s dry we’ve got a good car, but if it’s wet then who knows, we could have a better car. It’s been very good in the wet at the last few rounds; we managed to clinch a win at Silverstone, so it will be really interesting to see what happens.”