Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport and Jake Hill returned to the BTCC podium this past weekend as a brace of second-place finishes, and a tenth-place finish, saw the team enjoy a healthy points haul in the third meeting of the 2023 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Snetterton.
Sunshine and warm conditions set the scene at Snetterton Circuit and after a successful qualifying day on Saturday, Jake Hill lined the grid for race one from the second-row in fourth place and on the soft compound tyres.
With all three tyre compounds (soft, medium and hard) to be used across the three races, Jake elected to use the softs in the opening race and used them to his advantage as he got a fantastic launch off the line. Passing Tom Ingram into turn one, Jake moved into third place as he ran three wide into the hairpin alongside Ingram and Turkington.
Tucking in behind his WSR stablemate, Colin Turkington, Jake ran in third place and began to showcase his pace. Filing up Turkington's mirrors, Jake would eventually pull alongside going down the Bentley Straight and, with two wheels on the grass, pulled off a brave move around the outside into the chicane - securing second place.
Hunting down the race leader, Ash Sutton, Jake behind the wheel of his WSR-run BMW 330e M Sport cut the two-second lead in just two laps and crossed the finishing line just two-tenths behind to secure a second-place finish and a trip to the podium.
Starting race two from the front row in second place, Jake challenged Sutton for the race lead through the opening corners but remained in second place after the opening lap.
Driving a clean and measured race, Jake took the chequered flag from second place once again to record back-to-back podium finishes and a strong haul of points.
Having used the medium compounds in race two, Jake was left with the hardest compound to use in race three and was handed a 5th place starting position in the reverse grid draw.
In a battling race that saw plenty of overtakes and passes. Jake, unfortunately, slipped down the order and would eventually cross the finishing line to take a tenth-place finish and added more points to his championship tally.
Jake now sits tied 4th in the Drivers' Championship with 98 points as the series heads to Thruxton Circuit for round four of the season (3–4 June).
"Really pleased to have secured a double P2 at Snetterton! A fantastic weekend for myself and the Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport team in round 3 of the season, the team did a fantastic job once again and we depart with some really good points.
Huge thank you as always to WSR for an incredible BMW, we head to Thruxton in two weeks' time and hopefully we can stay on the podium and continue our championship push." - Jake Hill
“A really successful trip to Norfolk for the Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport team. We collected some silverware and some strong points which is a reward for the efforts Jake and the team have put in this weekend. We know there is still more potential to unlock so we will be working hard to unlock it for round four at Thruxton in a couple of weeks!" - Mark Blundell
