Jake Hill thrilled to open MB Motorsport account
Jake Hill admitted he was delighted to secure a first BTCC win for the Motorbase-run MB Motorsport team after picking up a dominant victory at Croft.
Hill had secured five podium finishes going into the weekend, finishing as runner-up no fewer than four times, to sit fourth in the championship standings in his Ford Focus.
Despite the ballast on his car, Hill qualified second on the grid for the opening race and would wrap up a sixth podium of the campaign as he harried Aiden Moffat throughout before settling for second.
Although Moffat was able to keep the lead at the start of race two, a committed move from Hill going into the complex for the first time saw the Ford sweep into the lead.
From that point on, Hill was untroubled at the front of the field and a winning margin of 5.508s over Moffat was the biggest winning margin of the year to date.
Seventh place in the reverse grid final race rounded out a strong weekend in terms of points, with Hill now holding second in the standings going into the final three rounds.
“This has been a dream weekend for me,” he reflected. “Qualifying on the front row was a great start and P2 in race one was a solid result, but the win in race two is the result that we really wanted and have been working towards.
“Croft is a circuit I have always loved. It’s the place where I took my first win in Ginetta Juniors and where I made my BTCC debut with Motorbase, and now I’ve got the first win for MB Motorsport here. It means so much to me and to the whole team, and credit to everyone for the effort they have put in.
“We’ve scored good points this weekend and to take seventh in race three with the weight and on the soft tyre was a real bonus. It puts us right in the championship fight going to Silverstone, although I we might have to think outside the box a little bit there because of the weight we’ll be carrying.
“I’m looking forward to it, and with three circuits to come where we should go well, we’ll have to see what we can do.”
