Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport and Jake Hill scored a healthy collection of points this past weekend (3/4 June), as a brace of fourth-place finishes and a tenth-place finish rewarded the team for their efforts in the fourth meeting of the 2023 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Thruxton.
During Qualifying, Hill would build up the speed around the thrilling corners of the Thruxton Circuit to take P5, a mere 0.033 away from a second-row start and 0.089 ahead of his BMW team-mate Colin Turkington. This meant the 29-year-old maintained his record of starting in the top-five places throughout this season so far.
Race day saw Hill get a fantastic launch off the line during race one, instantly moving himself up to P4. Running door to door with third-placed Josh Cook through the complex, Hill battled for the final place on the podium but tucked back into his fourth-place position.
Crossing the finishing line 16 laps later, Hill took fourth place to collect more championship points and a second-row starting position for race two.
During race two, Hill replicated his start from earlier in the day and once again battled with Cook through the complex. Staying on the tail of the podium runners, Hill crossed the line in fourth place for the second time in as many races.
The reverse grid draw saw Hill handed a P9 starting position for the final race of the day. An incident at Noble resulted in him losing momentum and dropping down to 10th, from where he took the chequered flag to round out a positive day's racing at the Hampshire circuit.
"It was a successful weekend at Thruxton when we look at the results but ultimately, I found it pretty tough behind the wheel and want to be back battling at the front!" said Hill, "We struggled with balance and had to work through some changes across the practice sessions as we searched for the optimal setup of our BMW 330e M Sport and I owe a lot of thanks to the guys and girls at WSR for that.
"Qualifying, the car felt much better and we were able to grab a P5 to put us in the mix for race day. Races one and two were mirror images of each other with two P4s, and we rounded the day off with a P10 and leave Thruxton with some good points in the bag. Big thanks to the team as always and we'll be working harder than ever to get back to the front in a couple of weeks' time at Oulton Park."
Hill departs Thruxton 4th in the Drivers' Championship with 130 points, as the BTCC heads to Oulton Park for its fifth event of the 2023 season on 17/18 June.
