Jake Hill and Rob Huff shared the Snetterton spoils in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship this past weekend (May 25/26) as ever-changing weather conditions played their part in delivering an action-packed third meeting of the season.
Hot on the heels of blockbuster events at Donington Park and Brands Hatch, the country’s premier motorsport series served up three hard-fought contests around the 300 layout – which further shook up the championship order in the process.
Qualifying on Saturday afternoon proved to be an edge-of-the-seat affair as Hill powered his Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport BMW to a well-deserved pole position in the final moments of the session.
Having shown his hand in greasy conditions earlier in the day, Hill produced a superlative last-gasp lap to claim top spot ahead of reigning champion Ash Sutton, who was as equally impressive given he had just one second of hybrid deployment available to him.
Behind the top two, Adam Morgan netted third ahead of Dan Cammish and the returning Bobby Thompson, who was making his debut with West Surrey Racing after putting together a deal that will see him drive for the team for the remainder of the season.
Sunday’s opening contest proved to be a masterclass from Hill as he claimed a comfortable lights-to-flag victory. Opting to run the soft tyre on his rear-wheel-drive machine, Hill blasted away from pole position and was ultimately never challenged on his way to a first win of the year.
As Hill scampered clear, stablemate Thompson continued his dream debut with the team by progressing up to second while Sutton completed the podium in third, which in-turn saw him equal the record of scoring seven consecutive top three finishes.
If Hill’s victory in race one was impressive, the way he went about triumphing in race two will be remembered for some time as he obliterated the field in a frenetic wet-dry-wet race.
A huge storm had hit the circuit prior to lights out which led to a lengthy delay as circuit officials shifted large areas of standing water. With the sun beaming down, many drivers opted to switch to slick tyres however Hill remained on wets, which proved to be an inspired decision.
Hill’s chances of victory had looked almost impossible though as he was hit with a ten-second penalty for jumping the start. He immediately began to build a lead out front though and when the rain returned, he only got stronger and triumphed by more than 15 seconds ahead of Dan Cammish and Josh Cook.
The final word of the weekend went the way of home hero Huff who led home a first-ever Toyota 1-2-3 to claim his first win in the BTCC in 20 years.
Hill originally had looked like he would score a historic hat-trick of wins as his gamble to run on wet tyres powered him into an early lead however as the track continued to dry, the slick-shod cars closed in.
Huff, Cook and Aiden Moffat led the charge for the BMW driver and all found a way past just after mid-distance. Once they were out front, there was no stopping them as Huff recorded a famous third career win in the series.
Leaving Snetterton, Sutton holds a ten-point lead over Colin Turkington at the top of the BTCC Drivers’ Championship whilst Ford head the Manufacturers-Constructors Championship.
In the Teams’ Championship, NAPA Racing UK lead the standings after three events whilst Aron Taylor-Smith and Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing sit out front in both the Independent Drivers’ and Independent Teams’ Championship’s respectively.
The Jack Sears Trophy – which is open to drivers who hadn’t scored an outright podium in the series prior to the start of the season – continues to be led by Mikey Doble.
On the TOCA support championship, Dan Zelos continued his march towards what could be a third Vertu MINI CHALLENGE JCW title as he claimed three wins from four races – one of which came in his 100th start in the series.
Zelos looked unbeatable around the longest circuit on the calendar however his team-mate Max Hall managed to overhaul on him the finale to clinch a third win of the season.
Alex Ninovic was one of the leading lights in the ROKiT F4 British Championship certified by FIA as he claimed two wins, with Yuanpu Cui also clinching a breakthrough win.
The Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain began its campaign with Seb Hopkins and Max Coates sharing the spoils, with Luke Hilton and Chris Lulham doing the same in the Hagerty Radical Cup UK.
To view the full classification of results from all sessions at Snetterton, CLICK HERE.
The fastest track in the UK, Thruxton Circuit, provides the next stop on the calendar with Rounds 10, 11 & 12 taking place on June 8/9. Advance tickets for the event are currently available to purchase from the Thruxton website.
