Jake Hill dominates Super Touring Power 2 at Brands Hatch before Nissan Primera withdrawn
08:28, 02 July 2024
updated: 10:33, 07 July 2024
Jake Hill was on course to repeat last year's clean sweep of Super Touring Power victories at Brands Hatch before his car was withdrawn from the event.
The current British Touring Car Championship leader, 30, won both races on Saturday aboard Laurent Aiello's 1999 title-winning Nissan Primera, owned by Essex-based Richard Wheeler.
But Hill, of Platts Heath, was unable to compete on Sunday after Wheeler decided to pull his cars from the meeting following a heavy crash with touring car legend Steve Soper in the first race.
Wheeler received two penalty points on his licence after officials found he was "predominantly at fault" for the clash at the exit of Druids, which left both drivers with bruising.
Hill, who scored four victories at last year's event, said he was "sorry to all the fans" who attended on Sunday but "unfortunately it was out of my control".
He comfortably claimed pole position by 2.8sec on Saturday and enjoyed a close battle with Soper in race one after deciding "not to go off into the distance".
As the two ran together, Wheeler closed in aboard his Primera - the sister car to Hill's - but collided with Soper's Italian championship BMW E36 M3 on the final lap.
Soper bounced off the tyre wall and swiped Wheeler's ex-David Leslie machine, causing extensive damage to both cars.
The race was red flagged with Hill declared the winner ahead of Jason Hughes (Vauxhall Vectra) and Alex Morgan (Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch).
"I wanted the fans to enjoy it - everyone came to see the Super Tourers race door to door and that's what we wanted to give them," Hill said.
"We had a bit of fun and enjoyed it. Steve is a legend, a genuine superstar, so to race in these cars, and on this circuit, was just brilliant.
"In race two, I thought there may be a chance I wasn't going to necessarily get to drive it on Sunday, so I had a good proper go on the last lap just for my own personal satisfaction, and it was a nice way to end.
“I've now had six wins out of six in the Primera at this event, so it was another great day in the car.”
Hill, who met Aiello on Saturday afternoon, pulled clear of Hughes’s ex-Jason Plato Vectra to win race two by almost six seconds on the Grand Prix circuit, setting a new lap record of 1min 33.857sec.
He will now head to the Goodwood Festival of Speed in West Sussex on July 11-14, driving a Ric Wood-prepared Calsonic Nissan Skyline R32 GTR in the timed shootout.
In the BTCC, Hill currently holds a four-point lead over former Ginetta rival Tom Ingram, but the championship is currently on its summer break.
"The tough part of the season starts after that," said Hill, who drives a Laser Tools-backed BMW 330e for West Surrey Racing.
"It's going to become really difficult and we've just got to keep our head down and stay focused."
The next BTCC round will be held at Croft in North Yorkshire on July 27-28, with the Brands Hatch Grand Prix loop hosting the season finale on October 5-6.
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