Jake Hill made an incredible comeback to the British Touring Car Championship by claiming an imperious double win at Knockhill on Sunday aboard his WSR-run Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport BMW.
The 2024 title winner had watched the triple-header at Croft a fortnight earlier from his sofa at home after falling ill during practice and withdrawing from the event on health grounds.
But the Maidstone racer showed the guts and determination that helped him secure last year’s championship crown with a performance of epic proportions aboard his BMW 330i M Sport.
Jake started the opening race from third place on the grid behind the similar WSR-run BMWs of Charles Rainford and Daryl DeLeon.
But he benefitted when Daryl ran wide onto the grass at Duffus Dip early on and then overtook Charles with a crafty switch-back move between the final hairpin and Duffus at two-thirds distance and pulled clear to victory.
He then made it a dynamic double in the reversed-grid finale; this time passing Daryl for the lead at the hairpin during the early stages and controlling the field thereafter.
Not only was his third win of 2025 and the 23rd of his BTCC career, it was also Jake’s seventh at Knockhill and means he has won at the undulating Fife circuit in every one of the four seasons he’s been there since joining WSR.
A fifth-place finish in Race Two – on the unfavoured medium compound tyre – helped Jake to a 54-point haul; the best of any driver at Knockhill and his largest of the year.
Jake was not the only driver celebrating on Sunday. LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR driver Charles had secured his maiden BTCC pole on Saturday and completed a superb one-two finish for WSR in the opening race.
The Sussex racer’s result was his third podium finish of the season and he was also the Jack Sears Trophy winner for a second consecutive event as he closed to within one point of Daryl in the battle for the crown.
Charles also set the fastest race lap of the weekend, earning him the prestigious David Leslie Trophy; named in honour the legendary Scottish BTCC racer. He was 16th in Race Two on the medium tyre and climbed from 16th to eighth in Race Three.
Team-mate Aiden Moffat made his 350th BTCC start in Race Two and enjoyed a strong race day in which he scored his biggest points total of the year.
The Dalkeith ace finished in the top 10 in all three races and enjoyed wheel-to-wheel racing across the day.
He came home sixth, seventh and ninth across the day; his Race Two and Three results affected, respectively, by a flat-spotted tyre and an intermittent electrical issue.
After qualifying second on Saturday, Daryl’s Race-One excursion led to a build-up of debris on his BMW’s air intake. Not only did this cost him power on the long straights, it also led to him driving more conservatively to prevent overheating issues.
He dropped to eighth during the race, but reversed that trend with an excellent charge to sixth in Race Two.
He was drawn on reversed-grid pole for Race Three, but lost positions after developing an alternator issue that worsened as the laps ticked by and eventually caused his retirement.
The championship continues at Donington Park on August 30-31.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 7/10
DRIVERS
1/ Tom Ingram – 323 points
2/ Ash Sutton – 306
3/ Dan Cammish – 228
4/ Dan Rowbottom – 214
5/ Jake Hill – 197
6/ Adam Morgan – 170
8/ Charles Rainford – 134
11/ Aiden Moffat – 110
12/ Daryl DeLeon – 109
MANUFACTURERS
1/ Ford – 614 points
2/ Hyundai – 603
3/ BMW – 476
4/ Toyota – 346
TEAMS
1/ NAPA Racing UK – 559 points
2/ Team Vertu – 552
3/ LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR – 325
4/ Restart Racing – 265
5/ Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport – 160
6/ One Motorsport – 156
8/ WSR – 104
JACK SEARS TROPHY
1/ Daryl DeLeon – 309 points
2/ Charles Rainford – 308
3/ Sam Osborne – 277
4/ James Dorlin – 247
5/ Dexter Patterson – 227
6/ Ronan Pearson – 157
Comments