Jake Hill heads WSR 1-2 in opening race at Brands Hatch

Jake Hill scored his opening win of the season by leading home a BMW 1-2 in the opening British Touring Car Championship race at Brands Hatch ahead of stable-mate Charles Rainford.

Hill had outqualified Rainford by a mere 0.021 seconds on Saturday, and the reigning champion was unchallenged in the opening race as he cantered to his 21^st victory in the championship.

Rainford kept Hill honest throughout the race, never dropping more than a second behind and typically circulating within half a second of his fellow 3 Series racer.

However, the duo appeared content to come home in formation, with Rainford scoring his maiden podium result in only his fourth start in the BTCC.

Victory for WSR means that the team has also become the most successful team in BTCC history in terms of race wins, with the Surrey-based squad now having 133 wins, passing Triple Eight.

Team Vertu’s Tom Ingram completed the podium, 2.5 seconds back and unable to take the fight to the rear-wheel drive cars ahead, having passed team-mate Adam Morgan around the outside at Paddock Hill Bend on the opening lap.

Indeed, Ingram came under some pressure from Morgan in the final laps, with his Hyundai team-mate taking the chequered flag in fourth.

NAPA Racing UK’s Dan Cammish was fifth, having battled with Power Maxed Racing’s Mikey Doble on the opening lap, although the battle between the pair cooled thereafter and Doble finished in sixth as the leading Independent driver.

WSR’s Daryl DeLeon took seventh, equalling his best-ever result, after passing NAPA’s Sam Osborne three laps from the finish.

Both drivers moved up a place after the finish when Restart Racing’s Daniel Lloyd had a five-second jump start penalty applied, meaning Osborne was eighth ahead of Lloyd in ninth.

NAPA’s Ash Sutton completed the top ten as the best-placed driver on the hard tyre, the four-time champion having moved up three places with a strong opening lap to hold the position thereafter.

The struggling Toyota team, apparently lacking straight-line speed, only bagged one points finish courtesy of Ronan Pearson in 11^th, although all four Corollas took the finish.

Nic Hamilton was the only retirement after a trip through the gravel at Clark Curve following a power steering failure.

Race two is scheduled to get underway at 14:05 BST.

Race result

POS	NO	CL	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	1	M		Jake HILL	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	BMW 330i M Sport	24	19:18.842	47.640	1
2	99	M		Charles RAINFORD	LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	24	0.662	47.604	2
3	80	M		Tom INGRAM	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	24	2.514	47.792	4
4	33	M		Adam MORGAN	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	24	2.943	47.714	3
5	27	M		Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	24	8.114	47.924	5
6	88	I		Mikey DOBLE	Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing	Vauxhall Astra	24	9.387	47.815	6
7	2	M		Daryl DELEON	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	24	11.177	47.827	9
8	77	M		Sam OSBORNE	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	24	12.582	47.792	7
9	123	I		Daniel LLOYD	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	24	15.534	47.956	8
10	100	M		Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	24	16.269	48.319	13
11	14	M		Ronan PEARSON	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	24	18.537	48.224	10
12	22	I		Chris SMILEY	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	24	20.246	48.270	11
13	777	M		Michael CREES	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	24	20.876	47.882	16
14	12	I		Stephen JELLEY	One Motorsport	Honda Civic Type-R	24	21.434	48.208	12
15	66	I		Josh COOK	One Motorsport	Honda Civic Type-R	24	21.534	48.307	17
16	40	M		Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	24	23.027	48.089	18
17	132	M		James DORLIN	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	24	23.454	48.375	20
18	32	M		Daniel ROWBOTTOM	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	24	30.169	48.464	14
19	17	I		Dexter PATTERSON	ROKiT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport	CUPRA Leon	24	33.031	48.733	22
20	16	M		Aiden MOFFAT	LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	24	33.517	48.360	25
21	52	M		Gordon SHEDDEN	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	24	33.937	48.750	24
22	3	M		Tom CHILTON	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	24	34.256	48.716	15
23	93	I		Max HALL	ROKiT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport	CUPRA Leon	24	38.874	48.780	19
24	50	I		Nick HALSTEAD	Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing	Vauxhall Astra	24	45.246	49.250	23
R	28	I		Nicolas HAMILTON	Powder Monkey Brewing Co with Esidock	CUPRA Leon	15	DNF	49.019	21