Jake Hill returns to winning ways in Knockhill opener

Jake Hill won the opening British Touring Car Championship race of the day at Knockhill, taking the lead after stablemate Daryl DeLeon went off the road before overtaking fellow WSR racer Charles Rainford.

At the start, pole-sitter Rainford made a good getaway as the leading trio of BMWs settled into formation.

However, on the eighth lap, DeLeon attempted to pass Rainford for the lead into Duffus Dip but went wide off the circuit, filling his radiator with grass.

Although the 20-year-old emerged leading, he handed the advantage back just over a lap later, having taken the lead in the first place by exceeding track limits.

Hill followed Rainford into second, whilst DeLeon tried in vain to knock the grass loose from his front grille.

On the 13^th lap, Hill made his move for the lead on Rainford, going to the outside at the Taylor’s Hairpin and completing the pass over the start-finish straight before the first corner.

Hill began to pull clear of Rainford, but four laps from the finish the safety car was required when Hill tagged the back of the CUPRA of Nick Halstead, who he was attempting to lap.

Halstead’s CUPRA was spun off into the gravel and couldn’t be driven out, requiring it to be removed by the marshals.

Racing resumed for a final three-lap sprint, but Hill prevailed to score his second win of the season by just under a second and a half from Rainford.

Team Vertu’s Tom Ingram completed the podium, having been handed the place from team-mate Senna Proctor, who he had earlier allowed in front as Proctor was running the soft compound tyre to Ingram’s mediums.

Proctor was fourth, allowing him to continue on the soft for race two, with Dan Cammish the leading NAPA Racing UK driver in fifth.

WSR’s Aiden Moffat was the top Scot in sixth, ahead of NAPA’s Ash Sutton in seventh – the title contender quickly passing DeLeon for the place at the restart.

DeLeon continued and finished in eighth, clearly having backed off due to the potential for overheating his engine.

The top ten was completed by Toyota’s Árón Taylor-Smith – who had been a cork-in-the-bottle for the chasing pack for much of the race – and NAPA’s Sam Osborne, who put in a feisty drive to a sixth top ten finish of the year.

Restart Racing’s Chris Smiley was the top Independent’s driver in 12^th, the Northern Irishman having dropped a couple of places at the start and found himself shuffled out in the pack.

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	1	M		Jake HILL	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	BMW 330i M Sport	27	24:59.957	51.572	3
2	99	M		Charles RAINFORD	LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	27	1.417	51.119	1
3	80	M		Tom INGRAM	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	27	3.722	51.879	4
4	18	M		Senna PROCTOR	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	27	3.883	51.402	5
5	27	M		Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	27	4.474	52.067	6
6	16	M		Aiden MOFFAT	LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	27	5.904	52.115	9
7	116	M		Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	27	6.550	52.436	10
8	2	M		Daryl DELEON	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	27	6.980	51.337	2
9	40	M		Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	27	8.389	52.439	7
10	77	M		Sam OSBORNE	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	27	8.994	51.541	11
11	33	M		Adam MORGAN	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	27	9.141	52.186	13
12	22	I		Chris SMILEY	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	27	9.553	52.214	8
13	17	I		Dexter PATTERSON	ROKiT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport	CUPRA Leon	27	10.495	52.161	18
14	32	M		Daniel ROWBOTTOM	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	27	11.342	52.212	22
15	52	M		Gordon SHEDDEN	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	27	11.537	52.373	17
16	123	I		Daniel LLOYD	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	27	12.039	52.612	12
17	3	M		Tom CHILTON	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	27	12.640	52.649	16
18	88	I		Mikey DOBLE	Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing	CUPRA Leon	27	13.206	52.825	15
19	132	M		James DORLIN	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	27	13.466	52.550	14
20	19	M		Max BUXTON	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	27	13.913	53.237	19
R	28	I		Nicolas HAMILTON	Powder Monkey Brewing Co with Esidock	CUPRA Leon	25	DNF	53.363	21
R	50	I		Nick HALSTEAD	Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing	CUPRA Leon	18	DNF	53.316	20