Hill Scores Double & Huff Headlines Speedworks Lockout at Snetterton

Photo Courtesy of Carr Photography

In yet another BTCC weekend to remember, it was Jake Hill who made the most of the competition's trip to Snetterton as he turns in a monumental qualifying performance on Saturday, leading to a double-win in the first two races on Sunday.

Hill would also find himself in the frame for a potential triple-header as he held onto an impressive lead in the final race, which eventually saw former World champion Rob Huff secure his first victory since 2004, leading home an all-Speedworks podium with Aiden Moffat and Josh Cook.

Qualifying

The new 'Quick Six' format continued to impress on Saturday, again giving us plenty of surprises throughout the three sessions.

It proved to be a tough day at the office for Team Bristol Street Motors as Tom Chilton and - in one of the biggest shocks of the day - championship chaser Tom Ingram failed to make it out of the initial Q1 session for Group 1. Ronan Pearson would qualify for Q2 by placing in the top six, at the expense of team-mate Ingram. 

It would be Jake Hill that earned the headlines in the end, topping the times in all 3 sessions to earn his very first pole position through qualifying. During Q3, Hill battled it out with LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ's Josh Cook for the top spot, who for the second consecutive meeting was the sole Toyota breaking up the 'Quick Six' battle between Napa Racing UK's Ford Focus ST's and Team BMW. 

Cook looked set for a front row start until his very last lap, when he left the road at speed going into Bomb Hole, costing him precious seconds and placing him in sixth for the opening race today.

After his qualifying victory and double-win in Brands Hatch a fortnight ago, Colin Turkington provided another of the notable absences from the top ten for the opening race by failing to qualify out of Q2 - the only Team BMW member to not make it to the Quick Six finale.

West Surrey Racing, however, will be marking this as a successful weekend already with three cars in the top five, including Bobby Thompson who makes his BTCC return in the fourth WSR-run BMW 330e M Sport under the striking colours of Zeus Cloud Racing with WSR.

Championship leader Ash Sutton once again showed his pedigree by earning the other front-row spot alongside Hill, setting the record for the only driver to qualify for the Quick Six Q3 session in each weekend so far this season, as well as already boasting the only driver with a 100% podium finish record thus far, a feat he will no doubt be looking to continue this weekend.

Qualifying - Quick Six

1 24 Jake HILL Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport 2:00.876
2 1 Ashley SUTTON NAPA Racing UK +0.805
3 33 Adam MORGAN Team BMW +0.991
4 27 Dan CAMMISH NAPA Racing UK +1.547
5 19 Bobby THOMPSON Zeus Cloud Racing with WSR +1.684
6 66 Josh COOK LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ +2.553

Photo courtesy of Carr Photography

Race One (Round 7)

In very deliberate fashion, Jake Hill maintained his composure and cruised to a lights-to-flag victory in the first race of the day at Snetterton. The BMWs have proven again this year how deadly they are off the line and this was no exception as Hill powered away from the off, with Bobby Thompson also leapfrogging NAPA Racing UK's Dan Cammish and his own Team BMW team-mate Adam Morgan off the line to move into third, behind Ash Sutton.

By the third lap, Hill had pulled away to a 1.7-second lead over Sutton to make his intention clear that the victory would be his and remained largely unchallenged for the rest of the race.

But it was Bobby Thompson's remarkable challenge on Sutton on the sixth lap that caught the headlines, as he moved into second with very little resistance from the reigning champion just shortly after both drivers crossed the timing line, at a time that Thompson was also appearing to be lapping quicker than leader Hill.

At the start of the race, LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ's Josh Cook and Aiden Moffat were the only drivers on the grid to run on the hard tyres, opting for an element of damage control in order to get the most difficult compound out of the way early, in order to give them maximum chance for results later in the day on the quicker tyre choices.

For Cook, who started the race in sixth, it was a case of accepting the inevitable as he started tumbling down the pack but managed to hold on to still finish within the points in fourteenth, whilst Aidan Moffatt finished last after being forced to pit to correct damage he picked up after contact with Team Bristol Street Motors' Tom Chilton.

Chilton's team-mate Tom Ingram made good on his disappointing result in qualifying by slicing through the pack and finishing in sixth-place, after putting in memorable tussles with Colin Turkington around the midway point in the race when both men battled for seventh.

Jake Hill and Bobby Thompson made it look almost easy as they pulled away early and stayed ahead of Ash Sutton to ensure a BMW 1-2 with Jake's thirteenth BTCC victory and returnee Thompson's best-ever finish in his Zeus Cloud Racing with WSR debut.

Sutton held on to take third, maintaining his 100% record of podium finishes this season.

Round 7 Result - Top Ten

1 24 Jake HILL Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport 23:35.164 
2 19 Bobby THOMPSON Zeus Cloud Racing with WSR  +1.922s
3 1 Ashley SUTTON NAPA Racing UK +4.00s
4 27 Dan CAMMISH NAPA Racing UK +5.13s
5 11 Andrew WATSON TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +8.021s
6 80 Tom INGRAM Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS +8.77s
7 33 Adam MORGAN Team BMW +12.041s
8 20 Colin TURKINGTON Team BMW +19.824s
9 12 Rob HUFF TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +22.219s
10 32 Daniel ROWBOTTOM NAPA Racing UK +22.426s

Photo courtesy of Carr Photography

Race Two (Round 8)

Reminiscent of scenes we have become accustomed to at Donington Park in the season openers, the heavens opened prior to the scheduled start of race two, leading to an almost hour-long delay as the circuit staff and marshals worked tirelessly to improve track conditions.

With the race being given the go-ahead and conditions improving, it was the familiar case of tyre choice being all-important as Ash Sutton, Tom Ingram, Colin Turkington, Aron Taylor-Smith and Dan Rowbottom all opting to pit by the end of lap to change from wets to slicks, causing an early shuffle in the order.

However, before this even occurred the front of the grid was already thrown into disarray by Jake Hill and Bobby Thompson both being handed 10-second penalties for jump-starts on the line before the lights officially went out.

Hill powered away from the pack in an obvious effort to give himself as big a lead as possible to be in with a shout of bagging his second win of the day, as the rest of the drivers who decided to stay out on wets fell in behind after the grid order was split in half.

By lap five, old rivals Ingram and Sutton were busy battling further back for fifteenth place whilst Hill opened up his gap ahead of second-placed Andrew Watson (Toyota GAZOO Racing UK) to 5.4 seconds.

With the lower half of the pack expected to start to make their way up the grid once the wets started to wear away, the rain returned to throw another obstacle in their way and prove to those at the front that their gamble to stay out could well pay off. By the end of lap seven, Jake Hill had extended his already-impressive lead to 8.6 seconds.

It only took one more lap for Hill to reach the goal of a 10-second lead to start to cancel out his penalty, but he would show that he had no intention of slowing up, as Adam Morgan and Daniel Rowbottom pitted once more to change their tyres back to wets.

Further back, Ash Sutton struggled further as he skidded off the road at Riches, but thankfully able to rescue his Ford Focus ST and place it back on the track.

Moments later, Andrew Watson was to spin off onto the grass after catching the kerb, relinquishing second place in the process to Dan Cammish.

Out front, Watson's incident appeared to confirm that Jake Hill's victory would be be academic as he widened his lead to a massive 14.7 seconds over the now second-placed Cammish.

Much like the first race, Hill's lead was to never come under threat as he held on to cross the line for his second victory of the day, by a margin of over 15 seconds.

Despite Bobby Thompson crossing the line in third, Josh Cook would be elevated to a podium finish behind Dan Cammish owing to Thompson's own 10-second penalty which saw him officially place in seventh.

Despite the belief prior to the start of the season being that new regulations would make it harder to see back-to-back winners in BTCC this year, Jake Hill becomes the third driver to achieve a double-win out of the three meetings thus far.

Jake Hill said: "That means absolutely everything, probably the best and most professional race of my life. The car was absolutely awesome, it was like I was driving a car in the dry. I knew I had the penalty so I just wanted to give it absolutely everything. The car is great and I'd like to think I'm doing a pretty good job too. I am so proud of everyone and I'm proud of myself, which is nice. The Laser Beemer strikes again!"

Reverse Grid draw - Jake Hill pulled out Sam Osborne as in pole position in the third and final race of the day, who will be joined on the front row by Aiden Moffat.

Round 8 Result - Top Ten

1 24 Jake HILL Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport 26:43.848
2 27 Dan CAMMISH NAPA Racing UK 1226:50.+6.26s
3 66 Josh COOK LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ +9.97s
4 3 Tom CHILTON Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS +10.69s
5 88 Mikey DOBLE Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing +14.79s
6 11 Andrew WATSON TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +16.62s
7 19 Bobby THOMPSON Zeus Cloud Racing with WSR +16.64s
8 16 Aiden MOFFAT LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ +23.43s
9 77 Sam OSBORNE NAPA Racing UK 1+26.82s
10 18 Daryl DELEON Duckhams Racing With Bartercard +29.16s

Photo courtesy of Carr Photography

Race Three (Round 9)

A wheelspin off the line by pole man Sam Osborne allowed his nearest rivals behind him to make a play but it was a lock-up moments later which sent Osborne off the track which sent him tumbling down the order early as Toyota GAZOO Racing's Andrew Watson took advantage and surged into the lead.

The day's double-winner Jake Hill quickly found himself in the mix up from ninth as he powered past Team BMW stablemate Bobby Thompson into second place. Second became another lead as Hill took over at the front before the end of the lap, chasing a historic triple-win to box off what could have been a perfect weekend after the disappointment from Brands Hatch last time out.

A safety car on the cards as Chris Smiley spun out and into the barrier after contact from Daryl DeLeon but play was waved on when it was deemed to not be necessary, allowing Hill the chance to repeat his fortunes from earlier in the day and extend his lead.

By lap three, Watson was still pushing hard to keep up with the Laser Tools man but Hill already commanded a 2.6s gap ahead. 

Further behind, championship leader Sutton was up twelve places to eighth and mixing it up with rival Tom Ingram for seventh.

Jake Hill continued to push ahead and by the fifth lap, his advantage had stretched to 5.5 seconds. However, the entire Speedworks outfit was in hot pursuit behind him as Watson, Aiden Moffat, Josh Cook and Toyota GAZOO Racing UK's Rob Huff commanded places two-through-five and showing no signs of holding back.

They were also showing no signs of team orders either as there was no lack of competition between the team-mates, with Cook taking fourth spot from Huff and then third from Watson in quick succession. Huff would regain the position but a couple of laps later, in another in-house tussle Huff was forced wide onto the grass by Cook but managed to hold on and rejoin still ahead of his LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ counterpart.

Hill's lead began to evaporate as his tyres clearly reached and ran past their peak, with Huff in hot pursuit. In the drag up to the timing line to signal the start of lap nine, Huff caught and passed Hill to take the lead, with Moffat and Cook following suit in quick succession to send Hill to fourth.

The next lap saw Hill relinquish another position as Tom Ingram continued his rise up the grid to sit just outside the all-Speedworks top three.

The trio stayed in formation for the remaining couple of laps to see Rob Huff take the win, his first since returning to BTCC this year and also his first since he was last in the competition 20 years ago.

Rob Huff said: "Race 3 here at Snetterton does it again for me at my home track. I genuinely didn't know I was leading, I knew I was coming through, I was just picking them off one-by-one but I didn't quite know where we were. The car was fantastic, it's safe to say we were dialled into that today and to win here at my home track is just mega! The car was exactly what I've been searching for so far this year, what a race!"

Moffat and Cook crossed the line to join Huff on the rostrum and securing Speedworks' first-ever podium lock-out.

Ash Sutton's progress up from twentieth on the grid saw him cross the line in fifth, 9 seconds behind Tom Ingram, to ensure he finishes the weekend still atop the Driver's Championship standings, ten points clear of Colin Turkington heading in Thruxton in a fortnight's time.

Round 9 Result - Top Ten

1 12 Rob HUFF TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK 25:37.243
2 16 Aiden MOFFAT LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ +2.33s
3 66 Josh COOK LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ +3.29s
4 80 Tom INGRAM Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS +3.50s
5 1 Ashley SUTTON NAPA Racing UK +12.83s
6 3 Tom CHILTON Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS +14.16s
7 20 Colin TURKINGTON Team BMW +16.47s
8 19 Bobby THOMPSON Zeus Cloud Racing with WSR +19.42s
9 24 Jake HILL Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport +20.02s
10 88 Mikey DOBLE Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing +21.86s

Photo courtesy of Carr Photography

Chris Tetreault-Blay
​BTCC Journalist @ F1 Journal