Jake Hill excelled on his British Supercup race debut as part of the British Grand Prix last weekend at Silverstone.
Hill had the opportunity to race in front of 140,000 patriotic British fans who were in anticipation of a Lewis Hamilton victory in the British Grand Prix, but appreciative of all racing.
As 30 identical Porsche 991-spec 911 GT3 Supercup race cars took to the track, amongst them 21 year-old Jake Hill from Goudhurst, proud to be racing in front of the BRDC Clubhouse as part of their prestigeous ‘Rising Stars’ programme.
Having not raced a Carerra Cup Porsche since the final round of the British series in October last year – where he took a well-earned podium finish – Hill had prepared with a day’s testing at Silverstone, but entered the Friday practice session aware of the quality of opposition.
Speaking about racing in the series, Hill said: “These guys are some of the best sportscar racers in the world. The German, French, Italian and British champions from 2014 and the runner-up in the Supercup are all racing. And some of the top Carerra Cup GB regulars are out – I think I’m the only driver who isn’t racing one of these cars regularly! So it will be very tough, but it’s a great opportunity that In2 Racing have given me so I will be totally on it!”
After gaining experience of the Supercup-specification Michelin tyres in Friday’s practice session, Hill looked at home during Saturday’s qualifying session, setting an impressive 2m.06.439 – and was set to impove but for traffic on his best lap. Nevertheless qualifying 14th was a satisfying result.
He added: “To be only 0.003 seconds behind Christopher Zochling who won the last race in Austria, ahead of French champion Come Ledogar and British champion Josh Webster amongst others is great – but we were on for a time that would have put us in the top ten. To be that competitive in my first time in a Supercup car is great – a big thanks to In2 Racing for giving me such a good car.”
As the cars lined up for Sunday morning’s 13 lap race, Hill hoped the team’s tactics of saving a new set of tyres would pay off, however the car bogged down after an initially good getaway at the start, and a couple of places were lost – but gained back quickly when DiPhillipi spun and Lukas retired.
Settling into a good pace, Hill pressured Jeffrey Schmidt for several laps, the pair closing on the fierce battle between Carerra Cup GB regulars Tom Sharp, Dan Cammish and Josh Webster – who had passed Hill at the start – with Sharp seeming to struggle a little for pace at this stage in the race.
Webster tried to squeeze past Cammish at the high-speed Stowe corner, the pair touching and spinning, with Hill somehow missing the Team Parker Racing driver but clipping the end of the rear wing and removing it – and losing a couple of places in the process!
Charging after the group ahead, Hill quickly caught Sharp and Frommenwiler – and in a superbly judged move sliced past the Austrian on the brakes at Brooklands – however Frommenwiler tried to re-pass at Luffield, hit the kerb and clattered into Hill, causing them – and Sharp – to spin and lose time.
Recovering in a frustrated 22nd place – Hill charged back into action and quickly found a way past Webster, and later Power and Twynham amongst others – ending up 16th overall.
“That was crazy!” said Hill “So frustrating I couldn’t get past Schmidt – if I had we would have been near Cammish who finished 9th – but that’s racing!
“I’ve loved the experience and really hope I can do more, and maybe a full-season next year. A massive, massive thanks to everyone who has helped – especially In2 and of course Shaun Hollamby from AmD Tuning, Mike Jarvis from Borderland Fencing, Alan Baker from BAK Cladding, Julie, Gordon, Michaela, Aaron, Derek, Marcus from Zynth and Martin and Emma from M4EM Timber Products – and everyone else…you know who you are!!!
Next week Hill will race on another legendary circuit, Spa-Francorchamps for AmD Tuning in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship.
Images courtesy of Jakob Ebrey