Jake Hill made his return to the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch and showed his potential from the off.

He scored points in his first race with Team Hard, and was running solidly in the top ten in race two when a fuel pressure regulator issue forced him in to an early retirement. The final race of the weekend saw a fantastic display of defensive driving ultimately finishing in 24^th place.

His displays showed that he can certainly be a force to be reckoned with in his first full season in the BTCC, and now he is looking forward to his return to the track at Donington Park this coming weekend.

Speaking about his debut weekend, Jake said: “It was really good despite its lows, it was good to be back and it is nice to start the year knowing that for the first time in four years I had a full year of it.

“Brands was good, the FPs were good and qualifying I could screwed up unfortunately so I couldn’t get a lap in at the end. Race one was really good progress, the car was really good and race two the car was the best that it has ever been. We were the second fastest on track at the time and then the fuel pressure regulator let go and that was that and ruined the weekend to be honest.”

Jake said about not being able to get a lap in at the end of qualifying and with 32 cars all vying for space at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit and the weather that was always going to be a problem, for all drivers not just Hill.

He added: “The problem was it might not have been too bad but in the middle of the session it had a very light shower, and at the same time a lot of people were doing their second run.

“I had gone out on my second run on a brand new set of tyres, and because it was that bit greasy you just couldn’t switch them on at all. That really wasted about ten to 15 minutes of the session and then everyone went out on their last run with about five to ten minutes to go and it was manic.

“It just wasn’t possible for me to squeeze those last three or four tenths, I was on a really good lap and good enough to put me 12^th or 13^th and Stewart Lines got in the way and ruined it a bit. It was the same for a lot of people and with Brands Indy being so tight it was always going to be the same.”

Race one couldn’t have gone much more to plan for Jake as he worked his way in to the top 15 and a first points finish of the season.

“From 19^th to 13^th it was a pretty good race and I just wanted to have a really solid first race, climb up and get close to the top ten and be in a position to pounce on that for race two.

“Race one was just perfect, everything went to plan and the car was great, no real damage and it was exactly what we wanted. It was a good start to the weekend and obviously race two was going so well and then it just got taken away.”

Jake had a plan ahead of the weekend and it looked like it was going perfectly in race two when he was in the top ten and right here he wanted to be. Before a failure that probably won’t happen again all season for him.

He said: “No, it is something that none of us could have ever imagined would let go, the engine is literally brand new.

“I have done two days testing with that engine before that race weekend, it had done hardly any miles and every part on it is brand new. For something on the engine, which is obviously Swindon’s responsibility to let go is really a bit unheard of.

“They haven’t had one go in well over a year, it is just weird to be honest and a total freak, but unfortunately that was that.”

The retirement in race two put Jake at the back of the grid for the final race of the weekend, which ended with some of the best defensive driving seen for a long time in the BTCC, in his battle with Tom Ingram.

Jake added: “My aim from the start of the race was to get to the top 15, it was a big ask and we were starting on the second to last row of the grid. I thought we might be on with it as well because I was on the soft tyres as well, I got a really good start.

“I was following (Josh) Cook all the way through, he was picking them off one by one and I was literally just following him through the whole way. I was in the same sort of speed car as him and we were both pulling along together.

“We got to the Subaru’s of (Warren) Scott and (James) Cole, and Cook couldn’t really get by and I was getting backed up and Tom caught us back up and that’s when it all started. I was never going to let Tom through and obviously he was in a big hurry to get through.

“Maybe if he had backed off a bit we could have got through, but obviously my eyes were focusing on not letting Tom come through, like you said I thought I was defending really well and its hard work to keep the opening race winner behind me.

“I was doing it and I was doing alright, but then he got just a little bit greedy and just turned me round big time at Druids. As he turned me round I was still moving quite quickly, and we were still doing about 90 to 100 mph from the minute he turned me round as we hadn’t reached the braking area.

“I did two complete spins and as soon as it was entering the second spin, by the way that the rotation was going I worked out that I was going to be roughly straight by the time it stopped. As I was spinning I was going down the box and found first just before it stopped and it never stopped moving round, I dumped off the clutch and we were off.

“I literally only lost the three places but fell in behind Ollie Jackson, and my teammate Michael and did the best to stay with them but the car had suffered damage and couldn’t gain any more places.”

It was an unfortunate end to the weekend for Hill one that promised so much after the first race, but gives him confidence for the rest of the season and this coming weekend at Donington Park.

“Especially after the media day, and although it was my first run in the car it just felt really nice at Donington. I am expecting something similar and hopefully with a few places higher in qualifying.

“I think to be honest with the RML cars being definitely quicker over a one lap run, I will struggle to get in the top ten as quick as I am with the GPRM kit in qualifying. In the race the car stays with me a little bit longer, if we can try and maximise the quali and make the top 15, then we can work our way up like I was doing at Brands and hopefully try and get well into that top ten for race three.

“The car is really good and I can’t fault it, it is quick and hopefully we can make the most of it now before the RML cars get a bit too far ahead and obviously we are going to have to switch to it. Me and Tony sat down and spoke about it and we both agreed that we have probably got another couple of rounds where we are going to be alright and be in the mix and fighting into the top ten. Then after that the car is going to struggle a little bit more just as the front running teams get more speed out of it, then it becomes a bit too difficult to stay with them.”

Images courtesy of www.psp-images.co.uk