BTCC Silverstone: Hill takes dominant win in the wet

Despite steady morning drizzle, Hill was the only driver among the top nine to take the start on wet-weather Goodyears and had qualified his West Surrey Racing BMW 330e M Sport in fourth position. 

But he was already effectively up to third by the start, after poleman Mikey Doble inexplicably emulated an identical gaffe at the same venue from Laurent Aiello in 1999 when he went past the grid onto a second green-flag lap – he therefore had to start his Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra from the rear of the pack, and afterwards described the error as "a miscommunication".

Hill launched between the only remaining front-row man, WSR BMW team-mate Colin Turkington, and third qualifier Tom Ingram’s Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 N. 

By the end of the opening lap, Hill was 3.4 seconds in front of Ingram, who along with the other slick-shod starters was beginning a freefall down the field. 

A spin at Becketts on the third lap preceded a pitstop for Ingram at the same time as championship leader Ash Sutton at the wheel of his Motorbase Performance Ford Focus. 

The duo rejoined off the lead lap and finished 22nd and 23rd respectively, just half a second apart, meaning the championship gap between them remains at 42 points. 

The race settled down with Andrew Watson in second place in his PMR Vauxhall, while Dan Rowbottom displaced Motorbase Ford team-mate Sam Osborne for second on lap three. 

Watson trimmed the gap to Hill from over four seconds to 3.5s but began to come under pressure from Rowbottom. 

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

On the 19th lap of 22, Rowbottom got down the inside of Watson at Luffield for second, and the bearded Midlander went on to finish 5.9s adrift of Hill, who has now leapfrogged Ingram for second in the standings but is 41 points behind Sutton. 

“An absolutely perfect race,” said Hill, who dedicated the victory to Dan Kirby, his former Trade Price Cars team principal who died suddenly this week. 

“I was sat on the grid thinking ‘let’s do it’ – the risk versus reward [of slicks] didn’t add up for me.  I’m so thankful for that race, with my two championship rivals not scoring – it’s what I needed. 

“I just felt like I was in an amazing rhythm – that only happens once or twice a year.” 

Behind Watson, Adam Morgan made it two WSR BMWs in the top four by displacing the Team Hard Cupra Leon of series returnee Bobby Thompson with six laps remaining. 

Rory Butcher was the top finisher on slicks – the Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Corolla ace dropped as low as 12th, and the crossover point of lapping quicker than Hill did not come until there were seven laps remaining. 

The Scot was pursued home by the PMR Vauxhall of Aron Taylor-Smith, who was also on slicks and nabbed the fastest lap on the penultimate tour. 

Osborne hung on for eighth ahead of Josh Cook (One Motorsport Honda Civic Type R, on slicks) and the Hard Cupra of Dan Lloyd, while Doble recovered to 11th.

Cook made contact with Turkington’s WSR BMW at Brooklands on the opening lap, costing the Northern Irishman time in a long pitstop and leaving him 99 points adrift of championship leader Sutton. Dan Cammish also got caught up in the fracas, sidelining his Motorbase Ford.

BTCC Silverstone race one results (22 laps):

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info

       

Driver Info			Main Information Additional Data
Cla	Driver	#		Car	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Retirement	Points
1	J. Hill Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport			BMW 330e M Sport	22	23'37.153		91.68		20
2	D. Rowbottom NAPA Racing UK			Ford Focus ST	22	+5.355	5.355	91.33		17
3	A. Watson CarStore Power Maxed Racing			Vauxhall Astra	22	+7.430	2.075	91.20		15
4	A. Morgan Team BMW			BMW 330e M Sport	22	+19.464	12.034	90.43		13
5	B. Thompson Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown			Cupra León	22	+20.642	1.178	90.36		11
6	R. Butcher Toyota Gazoo Racing UK			Toyota Corolla GR Sport	22	+21.197	0.555	90.32		10
7	A. Taylor-Smith CarStore Power Maxed Racing			Vauxhall Astra	22	+22.257	1.060	90.26		9
8	S. Osborne NAPA Racing UK			Ford Focus ST	22	+22.776	0.519	90.22		8
9	J. Cook One Motorsport with Starline Racing			Honda Civic Type R	22	+27.538	4.762	89.93		7
10	D. Lloyd Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils			Cupra León	22	+29.078	1.540	89.83		6
11	M. Doble CarStore Power Maxed Racing			Vauxhall Astra	22	+29.926	0.848	89.78		5
12	M. Crees Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils			Cupra León	22	+33.983	4.057	89.53		4
13	T. Chilton BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8			Hyundai i30 Fastback N Performance	22	+36.002	2.019	89.40		3
14	D. De Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD.			Cupra León	22	+36.007	0.005	89.40		2
15	G. Gamble Toyota Gazoo Racing UK			Toyota Corolla GR Sport	22	+38.320	2.313	89.26		1
16	J. Edwards Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD.			Cupra León	22	+42.347	4.027	89.01
17	A. Moffat One Motorsport with Starline Racing			Honda Civic Type R	22	+44.334	1.987	88.89
18	D. Patterson Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD.			Cupra León	22	+47.163	2.829	88.72
19	S. Jelley Team BMW			BMW 330e M Sport	22	+48.038	0.875	88.67
20	R. Collard Toyota Gazoo Racing UK			Toyota Corolla GR Sport	22	+48.280	0.242	88.65
21	J. Butel Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown			Cupra León	22	+48.551	0.271	88.64
22	T. Ingram BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8			Hyundai i30 Fastback N Performance	21	+1 Lap	1 Lap	86.70
23	A. Sutton NAPA Racing UK			Ford Focus ST	21	+1 Lap	0.502	86.67
24	R. Pearson BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8			Hyundai i30 Fastback N Performance	21	+1 Lap	22.523	85.33
25	N. Halstead BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8			Hyundai i30 Fastback N Performance	21	+1 Lap	25.449	83.86
dnf	C. Turkington Team BMW			BMW 330e M Sport	14	+8 Laps	7 Laps	58.44	Retirement
dnf	D. Cammish NAPA Racing UK			Ford Focus ST	4	+18 Laps	10 Laps	63.46	Retirement
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