Jake Hill produced a masterful display to triumph in the second pulsating Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship race at Croft, as the MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square star also closed the gap at the top of the standings.
The moment of truth in terms of the victory came early in the bout as Hill made a fantastic move past pole-sitter Aiden Moffat in his Laser Tools Racing Infiniti. Moffat, running maximum success ballast virtue of his earlier race win, struggled slightly through the Complex as his Goodyear tyres came up to temperature and Hill made the most of his opportunity.
Hill immediately disappeared into the distance as a quite remarkable battle for second ensued.
Moffat hung on to the place, somehow, even after a mid-race hit from the BTC Racing Honda of Josh Cook, which caused drama as the concertina effect took hold.
Team BMW's Colin Turkington was bulked up behind following the contact ahead at the final Hairpin, which led to a further incident at turn one with Halfords Racing with Cataclean's Gordon Shedden, enabling Tom Ingram's Ginsters-backed Hyundai and Laser Tools Racing's Ash Sutton past both of them.
When the dust settled it was Cook completing the podium ahead of Ingram, Sutton, Shedden and Turkington in a scrap that will live long in the memory.
BTC Racing's Senna Proctor faded somewhat and could only manage eighth, whilst Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport's Adam Morgan and Team BMW's Stephen Jelley rounded out the top ten.
There was one safety car period when the Toyota Gazoo Racing UK Corolla of Rory Butcher clashed with Tom Chilton's BMW on the opening tour, whilst Tom Oliphant (Team BMW) and Nic Hamilton (ROKiT Racing with iQuoto Online Trading) both retired following contact in separate incidents.
The final BTCC race commences at 1705 and will be screened live on ITV4.
Jake Hill said: "You’d have to go back to my Ginetta Junior days to find another win I’ve had as easy as that. Get in there. I’m absolutely over the moon with that. Huge credit to these guys behind me, they’ve done a fantastic job. The car was faultless, even with the weight in it was easy to manage, and the tyres stayed with me right until the end – just a massive thank you to all the team!
"The strong deficit we have compared to the rear-wheel drive cars is the opening laps. I respect Aiden [Moffat] because he left me the room where I needed it and vice-versa and we managed to squeeze through! Once we got into the lead there was the safety car and that was fine, managed that. Off we went – I got my head down and just cracked on with it. It was absolutely fantastic! Mark Blundell (Team Principal) owes me a barbecue now!"
Aiden Moffat said: "It was definitely hard not being used to carrying the 75kg. Some parts of the track I thought it wasn’t too bad and then at other parts you really notice it, like coming out of Tower. I was always under pressure coming through the Esses with the quicker cars just behind.
"It was difficult, I had to really park it up, but when you’re in that position you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. I’m sure it’s frustrating for the people behind me but we did what we needed to do for Laser Tools Racing."
Josh Cook said: "It’s just all blurred into one – it was a busy race, wasn’t it! Once I got past Senna [Proctor], I just set down to try and get Aiden [Moffat], but it was a very wide car. It would have been a bit risky to throw a move up the inside.
"Then obviously the cavalry came from behind, so it was a bit of a tricky race. It was about knowing which battles to pick and when to back out. It was a busy race but I’m really pleased for the team to get P3."
2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 2– Croft
1 Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square 18 laps
2 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +5.508s
3 Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +6.849s
4 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +7.512s
5 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +7.749s
6 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +7.999s
7 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +10.087s
8 Senna PROCTOR(GBR) BTC Racing +11.254s
9 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +12.262s
10 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team BMW +12.438s
11 Chris SMILEY (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +12.616s
12 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +12.771s
13 Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +13.152s
14 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +13.370s
15 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +13.810s
16 Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +14.927s
17 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +15.131s
18 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +15.330s
19 Sam SMELT (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +16.011s
20 Jack MITCHELL (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +16.472s
21 Jade EDWARDS (GBR) PHSC with BTC Racing +17.225s
22 Árón TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) Team HARD. with HUB Financial Solutions +18.419s
23 Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +19.013s
24 Andy NEATE (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +31.145s
25 Nick HALSTEAD (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +33.461s
26 Jack BUTEL (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +1 lap
27 Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with iQuoto Online Trading +13 laps
28 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +17 laps
29 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +18 laps
