Jake Hill had what he described as ‘probably my best BTCC weekend ever at Knockhill circuit.
After qualifying on the grid front-row, just 0.053 seconds away from pole position, Jake took a second top-three finish in a row in race one and adding much-needed points with two battling drives to P8 and P5 in the remaining two races.
Jake said: “Of course winning here last year was so special, plus the other podiums I’ve had have been so important. What was so good about this weekend was the qualifying pace – I’ve now qualified in the top-seven in all four events, and in both race one and race three today the car was really strong.
“It’s no secret we’ve had ongoing technical issues – we had a misfire and a clutch problem on Saturday, and I know before we go to Thruxton the team will make a couple of major changes.
Hill was expecting to lose a place to the always fast-starting BMW of championship leader Colin Turkington at the start of race one, but then began a race-long battle with Tom Ingram’s Toyota, the pair nose to tail for the full 27 laps.
A delighted Jake took a brilliant P3 finish, and the honour of the first front-wheel drive car home.
A reduced race distance of 20 laps of the 1.27 miles circuit in Knockhill, just north of Edinburgh, saw a scrapping first couple of laps, with Oliphant getting a rapid start, and Chilton edging past.
However a set of strong laps saw Jake pass Smiley in a decisive move at Clark Curve, and then set about trying to catch the BMW ahead, and ultimately edging away from Cammish in the newer ‘works’ Honda Civic Type-R to take a well-earned P5.
“Thruxton is next and the car was on Pole for both races there last year, so having come so close at Brands Hatch and Knockhill maybe I can nip Pole there,” Hill said.
The British Touring Car Championship race weekend five takes place at Thruxton on 19/20 September. Follow the action live on ITV 4.
Image credit: MB Motorsport