Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport and Hill were back in action for the eighth event of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship last weekend (26/27 August), as the series returned to the GP configuration of Donington Park for the first time since 2002.
Saturday marked a tricky day for Hill and the team as they wrestled with technical issues throughout the day, but managed to qualify in sixth place. After a penalty from Knockhill was applied, Hill was set to start the opening race on Sunday in P9.
Wet conditions set the scene for race one at Donington Park, and from the off Hill was locked in a fierce middle-field battle as he looked to progress through the pack. Moving forward at the start and into 8th place, Hill then lost ground after contact, dropping to 11th place. However, the 29-year-old soon carved his way up the order.
Hill progressed from 10th place through to 3rd place and was soon on the tail of BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8's Tom Ingram. Battling until the final corner, Hill crossed the finishing line 3rd, but was later promoted to 2nd place after a penalty was applied. The result meant that Hill collected his 40th career podium in the BTCC.
Making a strong getaway in race two, Hill drew alongside Ash Sutton (NAPA Racing UK) as they braked for Redgate, however, Ingram seized the opportunity to cut back inside and edge past into second place, before quickly demoting Sutton and taking the lead.
This saw Hill now charging after the championship leader in a battle for second place; as the race unfolded Hill made several attempts to pass, but ultimately settled for third as well as taking home another well-earned podium – his 10th of the season.
For the final race of the day, Hill got a good start off the line and found himself door-to-door with WSR stablemate Colin Turkington (Team BMW) throughout the opening lap. Hill eventually sealed the move on the entry to the Esses to put himself into ninth place.
However, an incident through the Esses caused his BMW 330e M Sport to gain notable damage. Despite this, Hill did manage to battle home to a hard-fought P8, his 22nd points-scoring finish of the season.
Hill now leaves Donington Park remaining 3rd in the Drivers’ Championship, twenty points behind reigning champion Ingram, and 62 behind leader Sutton. The team returns to action at Silverstone in two weeks' time for the penultimate round of the season (23/24 September).
“Double podium at Donington! Really happy with how race day went, especially after struggling on Saturday with the car," said Hill. "We managed to get a P2 in race 1, and a P3 in race 2, followed by a P8 in reverse grid race 3. Some really enjoyable racing this weekend and a huge credit goes to everyone at Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, especially my engineer Craig Porley.
"The team worked wonders to change the car from Saturday to Sunday and wow what a difference! We now head to Silverstone and I have always enjoyed racing there in the past so let's see what we can grab there. Huge thank you as always to everyone for all the support."
