Jake Hill happy to bounce back with Brands Hatch pole position

Jake Hill was happy to bounce back from a frustrating season-opener at Donington Park to clinch pole position at the second British Touring Car Championship meeting of the season at Brands Hatch.

Having struggled to be on the pace following the removal of the hybrid units – which has reduced the weight of the car by 55kgs – the BMW squad locked out the front row in qualifying as Hill led stablemate Charles Rainford.

Showing glimpses of pace across the day’s two practice sessions, Hill smashed the existing lap record by more than a second to secure top spot at his home circuit.

“Overall I’m very happy,” said Hill reflecting on his Saturday. “When I woke up this morning I didn’t think we’d be on pole position but if we could make it into the top-six then that would be a great result. We’re in a brilliant position but we’ve got to make it count and do the job tomorrow.

“I’ve got to say a huge thank you to the team because they’ve worked tirelessly since Donington Park to give us a car that is capable of being one the front row.

“While we’ve made a step in the right direction we can’t hide the fact that Tom [Ingram] has been able to do pretty much the same time with little to no boost, so we need to keep pushing.

“I do think that with it being Brands Hatch and the last sector having had new tarmac laid, which gives us incredible traction, we’ve been able to maximise everything today.”