Best Ever BTCC weekend for TAG racing's Jake Hill at Oulton Park

It was a fantastic weeikend for Jake Hill at Oultoon Park, having both qualified and finishing in the top 10 in his TAG racing Volkswagen CC. Below is the full report.

Qualifying a superb tenth, and charging to top-ten finishes in all three Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races saw TAG Racing star Jake Hill record his best-ever weekend results.

After a tough weekend at Thruxton, Hill’s Team HARD-run VW Passat CC looked strong from the outset, taking 10th in a chaotic qualifying session, and giving Hill confidence for the races.

“Practice was in mixed conditions so we were a bit unsure how the car would be for qualifying. It was incredibly close but I am delighted to have qualified in the top-ten again, and with a car that feels very balanced and consistent so should be good for the races” said Hill.

Choosing to run the ‘Option’ softer tyre for race one, Hill made a strong start and instantly began battling with Josh Cook, squeezing past before Cook came back through. Running at a solid pace throughout, a late-race issue for Turkington meant Hill was now in 9th, but as the soft tyre lost performance late on Handy Motorsport’s Rob Austin edged by, Hill taking a solid 10th place.

“That’s the first time I’ve finished race one this season! It’s been my mission to get through this race safely because if you finish badly in race one the rest of the weekend is sort of ruined. The car and the Option tyres were really good, it’s a shame I lost out to Rob late-on but I am delighted for TAG Racing and the whole team to have brought it home safely, and score some more points.”

Starting 10th and now back on the ‘Prime’ tyres, another good start saw Hill battling with Austin and Subaru’s Jason Plato, settling into a good rhythm which also saw Hill’s Team HARD colleague Mike Epps on his tail. When Aiden Moffat dropped back Hill and Epps ran quickly and consistently to the end of the race, taking 9th and 10th places, and add more points to their tally.

“Another great race, and more points, plus for the first time ever I am in the draw for Reverse-Grid Pole Position for race three - in fact if they draw Mike’s number we will start 1st and 2nd!”

In fact it was Josh Cook who got Pole Position in the reverse-grid draw, so Hill started 9th, a row behind Mat Jackson. When Jackson’s Ford Focus began to leak fluid it meant Hill accelerating off the line though the oil, and cause huge wheelspin and lose out to Epps and Plato off the line.

Jackson’s retirement put Hill up to 10th, and Early on a charging Colin Turkington came past and soon Aron Taylor-Smith was through, both in manufacturer cars, but when Cook retired and Plato hit problems it looked like 10th place was going to be Hill’s reward. However Taylor-Smith hit problems on the final lap, the TAG Racing Passat took 9th and three points-scoring finishes.

“What a fantastic weekend! Top-ten in qualifying and three top-ten finishes, that’s a great way to say ‘thank you’ to the team and our partners for their hard-work and support. I got a big hug from Sam Cowan fro TAG Racing and our team-principle Tony Gilham.

NEXT RACE - Croft, qualifying live on itv.com/btcc at 3.55pm on Saturday 10th June, with all three races LIVE on ITV4 at 11.15 am on Sunday 11th June.

Image courtesy of Jakob Ebrey photography

Report by Simon Hill