Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport and Jake Hill scored a healthy collection of points this past weekend as a brace of fourth-place finishes and a tenth-place finish rewarded the team for their efforts in the fourth meeting of the 2023 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Thruxton.
In the basking sunshine of Thruxton Circuit, the scene was set for another high-speed Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship affair. The weekend got underway with Jake claiming P4 in his WSR-run BMW 330E M Sport during practice one before a P5 in the second and final practice session signaled a positive start to the weekend.
Qualifying followed, and with Jake behind the wheel of the #24 ‘Laser Beamer’ he would build up the speed around the thrilling high-speed corners of the Thruxton Circuit to register P4 with his first flying lap early on, putting himself firmly in the running.
Jake would head back out on track with fresh rubber to record his final flying laps of the session, immediately bettering his time, but with countless drivers losing times for exceeding track limits at the notorious 125mph Church Corner, ultimately ended up P5, a mere 0.033 away from a second-row start and 0.089 ahead of his BMW team-mate Colin Turkington, therefore maintaining his record of starting in the top-five places this season.
Race day saw Jake line up from P5 for the opening race and the Laser Tools Racing driver got a fantastic launch off the line, instantly moving himself up to P4. Running door to door with third-placed Josh Cook through the complex, Jake battled for the final place on the podium but tucked back into his fourth-place position.
Crossing the finishing line 16 laps later, Jake took fourth place to collect more championship points and a second-row starting position for race two.
Starting in P4 for race two and on the outside, Jake replicated his start from earlier in the day and once again battled with Cook through the complex before settling into fourth place.
Staying on the tail of the podium runners, Jake crossed the line in fourth place for the second time in as many races. The reverse grid draw saw Jake handed a P9 starting position for the final race of the day.
Another great launch off the line saw Jake embroiled in a battle with several drivers but kept himself out of any drama to maintain his position.
Pressuring Dan Cammish for eighth place, Jake looked to capitalise on an error from Cammish coming out of the complex, but as he went around the outside at Noble, Cammish shut the door and Jake was forced onto the grass. This resulted in Jake losing momentum and dropping down to 10th place, from where he took the chequered flag to round out a positive day's racing at Thruxton.
Jake departs Thruxton 4th in the Drivers' Championship with 130 points as the championship heads to Oulton Park for round five of the 2023 season on June 17 - 18.
"It was a successful weekend at Thruxton when we look at the results but ultimately, I found it pretty tough behind the wheel and want to be back battling at the front! We struggled with balance and had to work through some changes across the practice sessions as we searched for the optimal setup of our BMW 330e M Sport and I owe a lot of thanks to the guys and girls at WSR for that.
Qualifying, the car felt much better and we were able to grab a P5 to put us in the mix for race day. Races one and two were mirror images of each other with two P4s, and we rounded the day off with a P10 and leave Thruxton with some good points in the bag. Big thanks to the team as always and we'll be working harder than ever to get back to the front in a couple of weeks' time at Oulton Park." - Jake Hill
“Jake and the team put in a great effort this weekend and delivered us some good points for our championship campaign. We got the most out of the car this weekend, but we know there is still more we can do to maximise our package. The competition gets tougher every weekend and we'll be working hard to bring the fight next time out. Big thanks to all of our partners, fans, and WSR for their support this weekend." - Mark Blundell
