Jake Hill closes in on points lead with race one win at Thruxton

Jake Hill became the first driver to win at more than one circuit in the 2024 British Touring Car Championship after the Laser Tools Racing driver claimed victory in the opening race at Thruxton.

From third on the grid, Hill leapt past pole-sitter Tom Ingram and fellow front-row starter Dan Cammish when the lights went out to lead by the first corner, maximising the starting potential of his rear-wheel drive BMW.

A slow start by Ingram saw his Hyundai swamped by a trio of NAPA Racing UK cars into the complex for the first time, with Ingram dropping to fifth before getting back into fourth past Damiel Rowbottom a few corners later.

Cammish held second from Sutton in the close quarters opening lap, before the race was briefly neutralised under the safety car for three laps when a tyre stack was knocked into the circuit by Toyota’s Andrew Watson.

After racing resumed on lap five, Hill quickly opened up a lead of over a second over Cammish. With Cammish having used his hybrid to reduce the deficit to Hill on lap 13, down to half a second, Hill responded on the following lap to bring the gap back up to a second.

Hill ultimately controlled the race, claiming his first-ever win around the Hampshire circuit. Cammish had to settle for second with his second podium of the year, whilst Sutton completed the rostrum with his eighth top three result of the season.

EXCLER8 Motorsport’s Ingram held station to take fourth, ahead of Rowbottom in fifth and Spedworks Motorsport’s Josh Cook in sixth, after he followed Rowbottom past EXCLER8’s Tom Chilton on the lap of the restart.

Chilton took the chequered flag in seventh, ahead of Team BMW duo Adam Morgan and Colin Turkington in eighth and ninth respectively.

Power Maxed Racing’s Árón Taylor-Smith completed the top ten, ahead of team-mate Mikey Doble in 11^th.

The only retirement of the race was Restart Racing’s Scott Sumpton, who pitted with damage five laps from the finish, having hit the tyre stack that was knocked into his path on the opening lap.

Victory for Hill has moved him up to second overall in the drivers’ championship standings, just four points shy of Sutton (136 points), with Ingram now third 12 points back and Turkington slipping to fourth, 18 points adrift.

Race two is scheduled to get underway at 14:35 BST.

Race result

POS	NO	CL	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	24	M		Jake HILL	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	BMW 330e M Sport	18	25:25.141	1:16.246	3
2	27	M		Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	18	1.216	1:16.306	2
3	1	M		Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	18	1.955	1:16.758	5
4	100	M		Tom INGRAM	BRISTOL STREET MOTORS	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	18	2.518	1:16.931	1
5	32	M		Daniel ROWBOTTOM	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	18	7.918	1:16.716	4
6	66	M		Josh COOK	LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	18	13.147	1:16.564	8
7	3	M		Tom CHILTON	BRISTOL STREET MOTORS	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	18	16.739	1:17.380	6
8	33	M		Adam MORGAN	Team BMW	BMW 330e M Sport	18	18.765	1:17.563	7
9	20	M		Colin TURKINGTON	Team BMW	BMW 330e M Sport	18	19.151	1:17.798	10
10	40	I		Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing	Vauxhall Astra	18	19.752	1:17.962	12
11	88	I		Mikey DOBLE	Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing	Vauxhall Astra	18	19.978	1:18.038	11
12	12	M		Rob HUFF	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	18	20.879	1:17.936	13
13	11	M		Andrew WATSON	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	18	24.617	1:18.149	9
14	16	M		Aiden MOFFAT	LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	18	26.964	1:18.307	14
15	14	M		Ronan PEARSON	BRISTOL STREET MOTORS	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	18	27.400	1:17.744	20
16	77	M		Sam OSBORNE	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	18	28.401	1:17.780	15
17	222	I		Chris SMILEY	Restart Racing	CUPRA Leon	18	34.709	1:18.498	17
18	18	I		Daryl DELEON	Duckhams Racing with Bartercard	CUPRA Leon	18	36.994	1:18.683	16
19	22	M		Nick HALSTEAD	BRISTOL STREET MOTORS	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	18	48.924	1:19.521	19
R	29	I		Scott SUMPTON	Restart Racing	CUPRA Leon	13	DNF	1:18.843	18