It was a solid season finale for AmDTuning.com duo Mike Bushell and Jake Hill in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch.

Bushell brought his Ford Focus home inside the top 15 in two of the three races to cap a solid end to his first full season in the championship, whilst BRDC Rising Star Jake Hill showed impressive pace in the team’s Audi S3 after being given an eleventh-hour call-up for his home event.

After a solid run through free practice, Mike qualified 20^th on the grid in a tightly fought qualifying session, with his best time being just 1.2 seconds away from pole.

An impressive start to the opening race saw Mike avoid trouble elsewhere to make up seven places and he would remain in 13^th place right through the finish, although running in traffic hampered his chances of setting a quick lap time to determine his starting slot for race two.

From 22^nd on the grid, Mike again made up places early on and ran as high as 16^th before taking the flag in 18^th, which is where he would then line-up for the final race of the campaign.

Ending his year on a high, Mike took the chequered flag in 14^th spot in race three as best placed of the rookie drivers, with an impressive haul of 54 points for the second successive meeting allowing him to take second place in the Jack Sears Trophy.

Giving his thoughts after the chequered flag had fallen, Bushell said: ““It certainly hasn’t been an easy season, but I’m pleased to have ended it with a solid weekend and I’m happy with a run of four points finishes from the final six races. This weekend in particular has been great, and to be battling with people like Colin Turkington, Gordon Shedden and Alain Menu has been fantastic.

“I’ve learned a lot this season and I think there is certainly more to come from me in touring cars. The car hasn’t been quite where we wanted it to be, but we’ve made progress, have kept fighting and I’ve completed my first full year in the BTCC having questioned at one point if I’d even make it onto the grid through illness.

“My focus now is on 2016 and I’d love to stay with the team and try to build on what we have achieved this season. Everyone involved with AmDTuning.com has done me proud this year and I want to thank every single one of them for it.”

Having not driven the Audi before the weekend, Jake’s weekend started in difficult fashion with a trip off track in the opening practice session but he fought back well to qualify 23^rd; little more then a tenth of a second behind Mike.

Like Mike, Jake made up places on the opening lap of race one to sit just outside the points scoring positions before crossing the line in 17^th place, and he looked set to better that result in race two before being forced across the grass at Hawthorne while battling for position with Jeff Smith.

That left Jake to finish in 18^th spot, although his weekend would end on a low when he was tipped into a spin at Druids on the opening lap of race three.

Sadly, contact with the already stricken Toyota of Tom Ingram would be enough to force Jake into retirement; with the incident preventing him from building on an encouraging showing on his first outing in the series for two years.

Speaking after his return to the BTCC, Hill said: “After the incident in FP1, I think it went really well this weekend. Considering I’d had no time in the car before arriving at Brands Hatch, I think I showed good potential and it’s clear that the Audi is going to be a strong package next season.

“I was happy with the result in race one and in race two, I’d managed to get into the points scoring positions before being forced off by Jeff Smith, but that’s just the way it is sometimes.

“It looked good for race three but unfortunately I got a punt up the rear on the run to Druids which, added to cold rear tyres, meant I was tipped sideways. Normally it wouldn’t have been a problem but unfortunately Tom had already had his own spin and that was the end of it.

“Hopefully I’ve put on a good show this weekend and want to thank the team again for the opportunity to drive the car. I’ve got to work now to try and put together a deal for next year and would love the chance to come back and have a proper crack at touring cars with the Audi next year.”

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