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Autosport
Autosport
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Marcus Simmons

BTCC Oulton Park: Hill makes it a double from Sutton in race two

With rear-wheel-drive traction from his West Surrey Racing-run BMW 330e M Sport, it was no surprise that Hill got the jump on Sutton’s Motorbase Performance Ford Focus ST at the start.

Sutton stayed close on the opening tour, but Hill set fastest lap on lap two and then went quicker still the following time around to draw out a gap at the front.

But then the safety car emerged – Will Powell had already made heavy contact with Jade Edwards on the opening lap, forcing her Team Hard Cupra to the pits with suspension damage, and then he flew off the road at Cascades in his One Motorsport Honda on the fourth tour.

Hill had all that hard work to do again, but got his head down and was over a second clear within three laps of the restart.

The gap to Sutton stabilised at 1.7s, and Hill took the chequered flag 1.773s clear.

“My first BTCC double – what a feeling!” exclaimed Hill.

“The car’s just been faultless the first two races – so fast, so controllable, I’m over the moon.

“The start was as good as gold, a lot less pressure than race one. At the restart I thought I’m going to go a bit early and surprise everyone, and it worked – I pretty much got back to where I was before the safety car straight away.”

Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport BMW 330e M Sport (Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images)

Behind Hill, Sutton this time came under attack from the Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 N of Tom Ingram, and the reigning champion used some of his hybrid allocation to feint for a move on the Ford a couple of laps after the restart.

But then Ingram fell away slightly with a loss of brakes, and in turn he came under attack from an unexpected quarter: the WSR BMW of Colin Turkington.

The Northern Irishman has been on inspired form all day after starting race one from 27th on the grid, and Turkington was lapping half a second quicker than team-mate Hill once he had passed Ricky Collard for fourth.

With just over a lap to go, Turkington drew alongside Ingram into Lodge, and Ingram, pinched onto the inside line, lost momentum mid-corner.

That appeared to catch Turkington out, and the BMW whacked the Hyundai up the rear with enough force to loosen its bonnet, forcing the four-time champion to take it gingerly on the final lap on his way to finishing fourth.

Josh Cook had an adventurous race to fifth in his One Honda, starting when he was forced wide onto the grass exiting Old Hall on the first lap as he jostled with Dan Cammish.

At Cascades, the next corner, Cook ran out of room on the inside and contact with Bobby Thompson sent the Team Hard Cupra Leon spearing into the gravel – Thompson finally retired with the front-right wheel askew.

Tom Ingram, Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 Hyundai i30 N Fastback (Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images)

Once the race settled down, Cook was chasing Collard and Cammish. With five laps remaining, Cammish’s Motorbase Ford dived down the inside of Collard’s Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Corolla at Old Hall, and Collard ran wide onto the grass, losing further positions to Cook and Dan Lloyd.

Two laps later, Cook passed Cammish into Old Hall to grab his eventual fifth place.

Adam Morgan came through to claim seventh – and reversed-grid pole – in his WSR BMW after Lloyd’s Hard Cupra ran wide at the chicane on the penultimate lap.

Lloyd finished eighth ahead of Collard, with Rory Butcher’s Speedworks Toyota completing the top 10.

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