Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport and Jake Hill experienced mixed emotions in the second event of the 2023 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season, as they claimed a brace of fourth-place finishes before a puncture in the final race of the weekend snatched a possible podium from Jake and the team.
With Hill claiming the fastest lap time in qualifying, he eventually secured a third-place starting position in Saturday's 'Top Ten Showdown' and lined up on the second row for the opening race on Sunday morning.
Piloting his #24 WSR-run BMW 330e M Sport, Jake got a strong start off the line but with his front tyres not at their optimum temperature compared to his FWD rivals, Jake lost out on third position to Ash Sutton and crossed the line at the end of lap one in fourth place.
However, as a number of cars were caught up in an incident and a red flag was waved, the order was reset to the starting grid and Hill once again lined up from third place.
At the restart, the 29-year-old again got a fantastic launch and followed his WSR-stablemate Colin Turkington past pole-sitter, Dan Cammish, and into second place. Managing his tyre temperatures and battling to keep the Fords behind, Jake was eventually passed and fell back to fourth position – from where he took the chequered flag.
In race two, Hill once again got a strong start off the line to move into third place. However, he was then passed into the Druids hairpin by Tom Ingram, as well as Cammish, demoting Jake back down to fifth place. After a nose-to-tail battle with the Ford Focus ST, Hill launched a fantastic move into Druids to retake fourth position, where he finished.
The third and final race of the day saw Jake handed an eighth place starting position in the reverse grid draw. Displaying a flurry of overtakes on the soft compound tyre, Hill was up to fourth place, however, a puncture through the high-speed Paddock Hill Bend ended his charge.
Jake now heads to the Snetterton (20/21 May) fifth in the Drivers' Championship with 58 points.
“Coming away from Brands feeling gutted to be honest! The car was decent all day with two P4s in the first two races and we manage to save the soft tyre for race three,” said Hill.
“The car was simply mighty at the midpoint in the race and the fight was on to try and get onto the podium… however that chance was taken away from me with a blowout at the bottom of paddock hill bend.
“We move on and aim to come back fighting at Snetterton which we are feeling strongly about! Huge thank you to everyone at Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport and WSR for their efforts this weekend!"
