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MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square enjoyed their fifth podium visit of the season at Knockhill, as the Motorbase Performance-run squad claimed third place in the second race of the day courtesy of a battling drive from Jake Hill.
A foggy climate greeted the team on its arrival to Knockhill on Sunday morning but the skies soon cleared ahead of the opening race of the day. Starting from P5 and P17 respectively, both Jake and Ollie Jackson looked forward to duelling it out at the home of Scottish motorsport.
The opening exchanges of the race saw Jake fend off the RWD Infiniti of Ash Sutton and keep hold of P5 whilst a fast-starting Ollie quickly climbed two places into P15 by the end of the first tour, before rising again to P14 before the safety car was called to recover the stricken Dan Lloyd.
Restarting the race, both Ford Focus STs held firm in their respective positions and continued to circulate in P5 and P14 for the next four laps. As the race drew on, both cars came under increasing pressure from competitors behind. Jake, running the soft tyre in the opening race, defended against Sutton as best he could but the Infiniti soon muscled his way past whilst Ollie was relegated to P15 by Ciceley’s Adam Morgan.
Unfortunately, Ollie’s race would unravel from there as an issue forced him into the pits and into an early retirement. On track, Jake was forced into a late defence against the second Infiniti of Aiden Moffat but the BRDC SuperStar was able to hold his own and out-drag the Scotsman down the main straight to record a P6 finish for the first result of the day.
A much sunnier sky set the backdrop for the second race of the day, where Jake would take up his grid slot of P6 and a fired-up Ollie in P27.
As quickly as the lights went out, the safety car was deployed following an accident for Nic Hamilton off the start line - with Ollie utilising his experience to steer clear and avoid the carnage unfolding ahead. Further ahead, a speedy Jake was quick to get away and jumped the slow-starting Chris Smiley, who’s Hyundai bogged down and plummeted down the order.
Following a lengthy delay to clear the track, Jake wasted little time in making an impact as he darted past Senna Proctor and into fourth before rising to the podium places just three laps later. Making similar progress up the order, Ollie had gained two places into P25.
Jake now occupied third behind BMW’s Colin Turkington and reigning champion Sutton, who began to hound the Northern Irishman for the lead of the race. Hoping to catch the battling leaders, Jake was also forced to watch his mirrors for BTC Racing’s Josh Cook, who also put on a stern challenge.
A heavy off for home hero Rory Butcher called the safety car into action for a second time, bunching the field together once again. Jake’s restart was subsequently compromised by a backmarker failing to make way for Jake, causing the Brit to lose out on the leaders ahead.
In the closing laps, Jake was able to maintain his third spot to claim his fourth podium visit of the year with Ollie improving to P24 from his starting position.
Prospects were high for the final race of the day, with Jake lining up seventh on the grid following the reverse grid draw and Ollie once again aiming to advance from his P24 result in the race prior.
A tremendous start from both cars meant they quickly gained places - Jake rising to P5 off the line and Ollie once again proving as the race’s biggest mover, gaining five positions on the opening tour alone. A safety car to recover Cook’s stricken Honda provided a brief lull in proceedings before the action resumed once more.
Getting back underway, Jake was forced to turn defensive against a battling Shedden approaching fast behind whilst Ollie continued his route up the order, climbing to P16.
A great move from Jake on lap 11 allowed him to move up to P4 on the road. Before long, the top six found themselves bunched together in a close-knit pack. Whilst Ingram made a move for the lead, Shedden and Sutton slipped past Jake as he battled Jelley. Jake was forced to take to the gravel and subsequently dropped down the order. An issue then brought the Kent racer into the pit lane and into an early retirement. For Ollie, a strong performance in the final race to gain seven places on his starting position rewarded him with a well-deserved points finish in P15.
Today’s results mean Jake Hill heads to Thruxton fifth in the Drivers Championship with 128 points to his name with Ollie Jackson in P18 with 41 points. In the Manufacturers Championship, Motorbase Performance run second in the standings with 384 points and MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square are sixth in the Teams Championship on 180 points.
The championship will reconvene at Thruxton on 28/29 August for its second visit of the season to Hampshire.
Ollie Jackson - Qualified P17 - #48 MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square:
“It’s been another frustrating day for us unfortunately. We battled back right into the points once again and showed once again that we had the pace to challenge for the points but we’ve not given ourselves the chance to properly fight it out. Knockhill can be a difficult track to overtake at so to gain show the progress we did in races two and three is nice but I’m determined that we’ll be reflecting more favourably at Thruxton in two weeks time.”
Jake Hill - Qualified P5 - #24 MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square:
“I’m delighted to be back on the podium here at Knockhill. I love this circuit and have finished on the podium for the past three years here so it’s great to keep that run going. The car felt really good all day and I could really get my elbows out and make those moves count when I needed to. The first two races went very much to plan and I really enjoyed mixing it for the podium places. To end the day with a non-finish is, of course, disappointing but it’s important to focus on the positives. We can head to Thruxton with our heads held high and a lot of confidence - we were on the podium there in all three races at the start of the season and I’ll be looking to repeat that again this time around.
Mark Blundell - Sporting Director, MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square:
“The guys have worked incredibly hard today but despite the podium and a strong haul of points, I know there’s a feeling of what might have been. I feel for Ollie as it’s another weekend where he has had to recover after being forced to the back of the pack but we know he can show what he is really made of at Thruxton. Jake has had another great weekend, driving really well, and although he’s disappointed with how race three panned out - he’s added to his podium tally and is still firmly in the mix with the leading pack.”
