MB Motorsport’s Jake Hill was pleased to close in on the lead of the British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park, after securing another trio of points finishes at the weekend.
On Saturday, Hill had qualified his Ford Focus in seventh for the opening race of the weekend, the 27-year-old being just over two tenths of a second shy of pole position.
In Sunday’s first race, Hill lost out at the start and slipped back, and from there, with 39 kg of success ballast on board thanks to his championship position going into the event, he couldn’t make any progress and took the chequered flag in eighth.
Race two saw Hill lose weight from his Motorbase Performance-run car and on the opening lap he shot up to fourth, ready to challenge for a podium position.
Despite pressuring the BMW of Adam Morgan, Hill couldn’t quite make it on to the podium, also having his hands full defending from Gordon Shedden and then Aiden Moffat behind to hold on to fourth place.
The grid reversal for the final race saw Hill drawn to start from sixth, and when Ash Sutton was spun in front of the field at the second start, he had to take avoiding action, dropping to eighth.
Hill passed the Toyota of Rory Butcher in the opening laps but couldn’t progress beyond that as he came up behind earlier first-time race winner Daniel Rowbottom’s Honda, ultimately finishing in seventh.
With three further points finishes, whilst his title rivals faltered in Cheshire, Hill has moved closer to the top of the drivers’ standings, cutting the deficit from 43 points to 23 points.
“Overall, I’m happy with how the day went,” said Hill. “We scored decent points in all three races and looked strong throughout.
“Ultimately, the podium was our aim and we had a good chance to get there in race three but I had to step on the anchors to avoid Sutton at the start.
“We head to Knockhill with lots to look forward to, I absolutely love it there and can’t wait to see more fans lining the edge of the track.”
MB Motorsport Sporting Director Mark Blundell was pleased with the performances of his lead driver, praising Hill for achieving three top ten finishes in a weekend which saw numerous red flags and a relatively high attrition rate.
“Well done to the team for a solid, points-scoring performance today,” said Blundell. “It was one of those days where simply finishing the race was a job well done so we can be pleased with four points finishes from six results.
“We’re improving every race and there’s plenty to look forward to on our return to Scotland in a couple of weeks’ time.
“As always, a huge thank you to Motorbase Performance for their efforts this weekend.”