Jake Hill revels in ‘amazing’ and ‘surprising’ victorious visit to Thruxton

Jake Hill delighted in a double win in the British Touring Car Championship races at Thruxton, elevating the Laser Tools Racing driver up to second overall in the drivers’ championship standings.

Hill went into the weekend having never previously won at Thruxton, although he had claimed a brace of seconds on his first visit to the circuit in rear-wheel drive machinery in 2022.

Qualifying in a strong third on Saturday, Hill made the most of his BMW’s start-line prowess to leap into the lead when the lights went out in the opening race on Sunday, capitalising on a poor start from rival Tom Ingram.

Ingram looked to have won race two, but was later penalised for gaining an unfair advantage in a move completely unrelated to Hill, with the latter thus inheriting a second victory of the day. For a short time, that also gave Hill the lead of the drivers’ championship standings.

Drawn to start in seventh in the reverse-grid race, Hill went on to take the chequered flag in fifth, gaining two places, to emerge from his Hampshire visit right in the thick of the title battle.

“It was amazing, really, a little bit surprising,” said Hill to TouringCars.Net after the weekend. “I didn’t think we had the raw pace to be right at the front, but we did.

“I was really pleased to win race one. We had it all under control: a good start, and then managing the pace to the end, which was fantastic.

“In race two, we didn’t quite have the pace of Tom, who had a lot more hybrid than us. For sure he was quick, but an incident with him and another competitor meant that he got pushed down the order at the end.

“It was nothing to do with me, which I guess is good, and I inherited the win which was fantastic – a second win here and a fourth win of the season.

“In race three it was messy! But we managed to get back through and get back to fifth position which was fantastic. I’m really, really pleased.”

Hill emphasised the importance of having a strong opening race in his haul of points from Thruxton.

“Having such a strong race one put us in good stead, and we got a good haul of points immediately under our hat, which was fantastic.

“It was just about having a strong car – ultimately everyone thinks this is a power circuit, but it’s not, it’s a chassis circuit. There’s such long, loaded, fast corners and you’ve got to have a good balance.”

Sitting just five points shy of series leader Ash Sutton, Hill is determined to regain the lead of the standings next time out at Oulton Park.

“I’m cool with second [in the championship] at the moment. It gives us another second of hybrid heading to Oulton, which will be helpful up the hill there.

“Otherwise, I’m pleased. For sure it would be nice to lead but I’m sure we’ll get the lead back!”