Jake Hill leads the 2024 BTCC Drivers’ Championship after a storming Race 3 victory at Oulton Park
Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport celebrated another stellar weekend in the 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship as Jake Hill clinched two podium finishes and his fifth victory of the season, propelling him to the top of the championship standings heading into the summer break.
With the sun shining over the picturesque Cheshire track, Jake started the weekend with mixed results in the opening practice sessions, finishing 6th and 12th respectively. Despite being limited to 3 seconds per lap of hybrid boost in qualifying, Jake managed a last-lap dash to progress to the second stage of qualifying. He narrowly missed the 'Quick Six' by just 0.049 seconds, securing a seventh-place start for Sunday's first race.
Race 1: Starting from the fourth row, Jake stormed through the field, passing WSR teammate Adam Morgan and Daniel Rowbottom to move up to fifth in the opening corners. After overtaking Tom Chilton, he was running fourth and pressuring Dan Cammish for a podium spot when a massive brake lock-up at Island Bend hairpin cost him two positions. He finished sixth but was promoted to fifth after Rowbottom received a post-race penalty.
Race 2: Replicating his strong start, Jake passed Morgan again to climb to fourth but was soon back in fifth after Josh Cook overtook him on a softer tyre compound. Jake fought back, passing championship rival Ash Sutton and then Cammish on the final lap to secure his 50th career BTCC podium, finishing third.
Race 3: The reverse grid draw placed Jake on row 2 on the grid (P4) for the final race. He moved into the podium spots by squeezing past Cammish at Cascades on the opening lap and then executed a bold move around Aron Taylor-Smith at the hairpin to take second. Hunting down leader Mikey Doble, Hill applied relentless pressure and made another daring Jake Hill-trademark side-by-side pass through the chicane on the final lap to take the lead.
Crossing the line to claim his fifth win of the season, Jake now leads the BTCC Drivers' Championship with 211 points, holding a slim four-point advantage as the series pauses for the summer break. The action resumes at Croft Circuit on July 27-28.
