Hill dazzles in the wet to secure double
JAKE Hill enjoyed a dream Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship weekend at Snetterton, claiming back-to-back race wins on Sunday to keep him in the title hunt.
Driving the Southam-based Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport BMW, he claimed two lights-to-flag victories at the Norfolk circuit to close the gap on championship leader Ash Sutton to 11 points.
The Kent-based race ace said: “The car was just absolutely beautiful to drive. I can’t thank Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport enough; they’ve given me a car that is just awesome.
“The car has been through a lot of development over the winter and this is just the best it’s felt by such a long way.”
Hill dominated the opening race while the pack battled for the other podium places, Bobby Thompson finally taking second from reigning champion Sutton who chalked up his seventh successive podium to kick off his title defence.
The Laser Tools Racing driver had to work harder for his second victory following a huge storm moments before the start forcing a delay while water was removed from the track.
Hill’s hopes were dented when he and Thompson were handed a ten second penalty for jumping the start but he immediately set about stretching the gap at the head of the field and when rain began to fall again, the race started to swing his way.
Hill excelled in the wet conditions, pulling away from the chasing pack by more than 15 seconds to score a splendid second victory.
With the grid reversed for the third and final race, Hill finished ninth.
He added: “That (race two) means absolutely everything, probably the best and most professional race of my life.”
It was also a decent weekend for the Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing team with Árón Taylor-Smith leading the way in the Independents’ championship while teammate Mikey Doble is the Jack Sears Trophy leader.