Racing at the 70th Anniversary St. John Horsfall meeting organised by the Aston Martin Owners Club at Silverstone, Paul Whight and Jake Hill turned in two faultless performances, to take Pole Position, Fastest Lap and Victory in both the GT Challenge, and the Jack Fairman & Innes Ireland races.

On a typically grey October day, with a wet circuit throughout the day, the pair first hit the track in Whight’s 2007 Aston Martin GT2 Le Mans machine, taking Pole, with Whight starting the race and battling hard with the nimble GT4 cars, handing over mid-race to Hill running in the top-three.

With Hill as a ‘Pro’ driver, the pair were given a 30 second handicap during the pitstop, meaning that BRDC ‘Superstar’ Hill emerged from the pits down in 9th place.

However Hill immediately set out at reducing the deficit to the cars ahead, and with 6 minutes remaining of the 45 minute race, swept past leader Becker, taking fastest lap on lap 24, and edging away to win by just over 3 seconds.

“I love driving this car! Last time Paul asked me to race with him at Snetterton last year we Won together – a very different circuit and conditions, but the car was superb, Paul drove brilliantly during his stint, and I’m so pleased to have taken the win.

Later in the afternoon, Whight took his place on the grid in the nimble 1965 Lotus 26R Elan, racing in the Jack Fairman & Innes Ireland Trophy, in a varied grid of 19 classic sports cars.

Setting a strong pace from the outset, Whight battled hard with the more powerful Jaguar E-Type and MG’s, and pitted from 5th place to hand over to Hill just before half distance of the 40 minute race.

Charging back into the race, now in 8th place, Hill set a fastest lap that would end up being 3.2 seconds quicker than the next fastest car, and worked his way up to Willmott’s Jaguar E-Type with just over 8 minutes remaining, moving into the lead and gradually edging away to win by just over 17 seconds.

“I last drove Paul’s Elan at Guadix in Spain in February last year, so this morning was reminding myself what a mega little car it is! I have absolutely loved racing both cars, and am so grateful to Paul and the guys at John Danby Racing for giving me the opportunity. It means a huge amount winning at Silverstone as part of the BRDC ‘Superstar’ programme, and gives me a boost heading into a very busy month of racing in October.

Hill will head to Croft next week, and then Snetterton two weeks later  for the next rounds of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, and between these events has been invited to take part in Goodwood Speedweek.

“I’m so looking forward to BTCC, but also the opportunity to be part of Goodwood. I can’t say what I’ll be driving yet, suffice to say it is an absolute weapon and I cannot wait!

“This has been such a brilliant day – thanks again to Paul and JDR – hope we can do it again soon.  

Image courtesy of Jakob Ebrey