MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square storm to maiden BTCC victory at Croft

STORY OF THE DAY

• After their second front-row qualifying result in as many races, MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square’s Jake Hill converted an excellent qualifying into the team’s maiden BTCC victory

RACE ONE

• Lining up P2 for the first event of the day, a good start from the BRDC SuperStar allowed him to harass polesitter Aiden Moffat throughout the race
• Meanwhile, a superb start from the #48 of Ollie Jackson saw him soar from P11 to P8 on the first lap before his race was cruelly ended through no fault of his own as he was taken out at the final hairpin
• Making a number of close moves, Jake drove with the championship in mind and settled his Motorbase Performance-run Ford Focus ST into P2 for the team’s first visit to the podium of the weekend

RACE TWO

• Lining up P2 for the second race, Jake was more determined than ever to usurp the now-weighted Infiniti of Moffat
• Meanwhile, Ollie continued to impress with his searing pace, climbing an outstanding 14 places on the opening tour alone
• At the head of the field, Jake continued to pressure Moffat and dived into the lead of the race with an excellent, committed move
• Following a safety car period, Jake continued to head the field and began to bridge a gap to the chasing pack that he would never relinquish and Ollie continued his charge through the field
• With a lead of more than five seconds, Jake took the chequered for his second career victory
• Ollie crossed the line in P14 to complete a mammoth comeback to the points-paying positions, gaining the most positions out of any driver for Race Two

RACE THREE

• With both cars lining up inside the top fifteen, the Motorbase Performance squad were looking for a strong finish to the day
• Unsurprisingly, Race Three brought its usual drama with the opening tour of the Croft Circuit seeing numerous multi-car collisions
• Unfortunately, Ollie's rotten luck was summed up as he suffered race-ending damage as he was unavoidably caught up in another driver's tangle
• Battling full success ballast and the softer tyre compound, Jake defended superbly throughout the race to hold onto his P7 starting position and claim more valuable Championship points

‍

QUOTES

‍

Jake Hill - #24 MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square:
“Get in there! I'm absolutely delighted to get the win and a huge amount of credit goes to the MB Motorsport and Motorbase squad - the car was absolutely faultless, even with the weight. The tyres stayed with me right until the end and it's just a massive thank you to all the team. Overall, it's been a fantastic weekend - we've done just about all we can, clawed back some ground in the Championship fight and pulled ourselves up to second in the standings. That's what we are going to have to do with every remaining round but we are properly in the fight and it feels like the momentum is building.”

Ollie Jackson - #48 MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square:
“It's been another frustrating weekend and we leave Croft with a sense of what might have been yet again. Qualifying went really well and we had put ourselves right in the mix but our chances of success today were taken away from us. Getting caught up in the incident at the hairpin in Race One meant it was another recovery mission. We came through really strongly in Race Two, which again underlines that the pace and combination are there but we haven't had the rub of the green as you can see yet again in Race Three. I'm looking forward to returning to Silverstone next weekend, a scene of happy memories last year, and hopeful that we can create some more this time around."

Mark Blundell - Sporting Director, MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square:
“I am so pleased for everyone today. Everyone involved in the team in every role deserves that victory, and Jake drove so dominantly to deliver it and I know how much it meant to him. For MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square, a BTCC outright win is a new territory and I want to thank Motorbase Performance and all our incredible partners for helping make it possible.”