Lights-to-Flag Victories for both Turkington & Huff at Knockhill Showdown

The race for this year's British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) took more twists and turns this past weekend, on the competition's annual pilgrimage north of the border. A victory for Jake Hill saw him briefly nudge Tom Ingram from the top spot, before Ingram bounced back with a runner-up spot behind former World Touring Car champion Rob Huff in the final outing of the day.

Photo courtesy of West Surrey Racing

Qualifying (Saturday)

Four-time champion Colin Turkington made sublime work of Saturday's qualifying session, topping the times in all three sessions to secure his 30th career BTCC pole, a mere 35-thousandths of a second ahead of fellow countryman, Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing's Aron Taylor-Smith. Turkington's Team BMW team-mate Adam Morgan turned in the third-best time to bag a second-row start for race one on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, it was NAPA Racing UK's Dan Rowbottom that set the pace in both FP1 and FP2 and followed with an impressive display over the three qualifying sessions to nab a fourth-place start, ahead of Speedworks duo Josh Cook (LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ) and Andrew Watson (Toyota GAZOO Racing) who rounded out the 'Quick Six'.

There were notable absences in Q3 as defending champion Ash Sutton (NAPA Racing UK) failed to qualify for the final round for the first time this season, with a bottom-place in Q2 earning him a 12th-place start, whilst title rival Tom Ingram (Team Bristol Street Motors) struggled with lack of hybrid allowance and failed to qualify out of Q1.

Photo courtesy of British Touring Car Championship (BTCC)

Race One (Round 19)

It was another lights-to-flag masterclass from Turkington Sunday's opening race as he extended a comfortable lead from the off and did not have to look back as his position out front was hardly threatened. 

The pressure instead was on Aron Taylor-Smith as he battled to keep his Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra ahead of the rest of the pack, hoping to build on another impressive season with the Bidford-on-Avon outfit. ATS put up a valiant fight until he was caught on lap eighteen, moving three-abreast at one point alongside Adam Morgan and Josh Cook, a move that saw the other two nip past and send the Irishman from second to fourth in quick succession.

The battle for second place gave Turkington the chance to extend his already-sizeable lead, eventually crossing the line over eight seconds ahead of Cook, who nudged past Adam Morgan on lap twenty-one out of the hairpin, powering his Toyota Corolla past the BMW on the drag up to the line.

Colin Turkington, Team BMW: "It always looks easy when you're six seconds up the road," said Turkington. "It was still difficult out there but when I saw there was a battle going on behind for second place, it enabled me to stride away into the distance. I'm very pleased to get on the top step here."

A fifth-placed finish for Team BMW team-mate Jake Hill (Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport) was enough to reduce Tom Ingram's lead at the top of the championship to only 10 points, after Ingram was forced to retire on lap eleven after picking up front wheel damage  after contact with local lad Aidan Moffat a few laps earlier.
​

2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 1 – Knockhill
1. Colin Turkington, Team BMW 24 Laps
2. Josh Cook, LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ +8.308s
3. Adam Morgan, Team BMW +9.117s
4. Árón Taylor-Smith, Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing +10.073s
5. Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport +10.503s
6. Ash Sutton, NAPA Racing UK +12.960s
7. Daniel Rowbottom, NAPA Racing UK +13.765s
8. Rob Huff, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +14.076s
9. Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK +15.032s
10. Mikey Doble, Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing +16.277s

Race Two (Round 20)

​There was plenty more for Jake Hill to celebrate in the day's second race, which happened to also be the Laser Tools Racing man's 250th BTCC career start. Hill moved his BMW 330e M Sport immediately into fourth place off the line ahead of Aron Taylor-Smith, gaining another place on each of the next laps to be up in second by lap three and chasing down team-mate Colin Turkington.

By the same stage of the race, championship leader Tom Ingram had moved up six places from back of the grid to fourteenth.

Jake Hill battled with Turkington on the straight up to the line to finally take the lead by lap six and continued to plough ahead, with another victory in sight. 

The real story of the race, however, would belong to Dan Rowbottom after the NAPA Racing UK man was handed a five-second penalty early on for a false start off the line. Rowbottom's determination to out-drive the restriction became obvious as he made his way past Turkington on lap eight into second. By lap nineteen, Rowbottom had opened up a three-second gap ahead of Turkington, with room and pace to move yet further ahead.

On the penultimate lap, Rowbo breached the five-second barrier to ensure he would keep his runner-up spot behind Hill, who brought home his 6th win of the season in convincing fashion.

Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport: "Job done. I was impressed with how good the car was on the medium tyre in race one, but we were flying there. We were so fast, the thing was hooked up. Credit to everyone at Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, they have given me a BMW that was untouchable."

Tom Ingram finished strong in tenth, but Hill's win was enough to see him leap ahead of Ingram in the championship standings, albeit briefly.

2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 2 – Knockhill
1. Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport 24 Laps
2. Daniel Rowbottom, NAPA Racing UK +7.980s
3. Colin Turkington, Team BMW +8.717s
4. Josh Cook, LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ +11.800s
5. Ash Sutton, NAPA Racing UK +12.879s
6. Adam Morgan, Team BMW +13.248s
7. Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK +14.698s 
8. Aiden Moffat, LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ +24.308s
9. Tom Chilton, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS +24.313s
10. Tom Ingram, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS +25.841s

Photo courtesy of British Touring Car Championship (BTCC)

Race Three (Round 21)

The traditional reverse grid draw saw former World Touring Car champion Rob Huff (Toyota GAZOO Racing UK) take pole position for the final race of the day, with Aron Taylor-Smith joining him on the front row, in the same position he started the day in.

It was another lights-to-flag victory to bring the curtain down on proceedings at Knockhill, however Huff was made to work a lot harder for his victory than Colin Turkington was in the opening race, having to contend with a race-long challenge from the Hyuna i30 N of Tom Ingram.

The battle between them saw the two cars side-by-side on more than one occasion, with Huff having to work hard to reinstate any kind of distance from Ingram after a brief safety car spell and hanging on to cross the line to claim his second victory of his return season to the British tin-top stage.

Rob Huff, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK: “Race three was tough – it really doesn’t get much more on-the-edge than that! What a mega battle – it was proper touring car racing, and I enjoyed it a lot. I think I caught Tom [Ingram] a little bit off-guard at the safety car restart, and I used my hybrid smartly, making sure I still had enough left for the end. The car has definitely stepped up since the summer break. The Speedworks guys and girls have done an amazing job, so huge testament and thanks to them for developing the car and getting it back up towards the front, which is where we all want to be.”

Tom Chilton ensured another Team Bristol Street Motors 2-3 on the podium, in similar fashion as a fortnight ago at Croft. Ash Sutton and Jake Hill took the fourth and fifth places respectively, both having been involved in altercations with Josh Cook earlier in the race, which saw the #66 car of Cook's crashing out into one of the tyre stacks after brief contact with Hill.

For Ingram, a strong finish to an otherwise difficult day at the office was enough to see him leave the Fife circuit once again atop the BTCC Driver's championship standings with a slender three-point lead over Hill heading into the Bank Holiday weekend return trip to Donington Park next weekend (24th & 25th August).

2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 3 – Knockhill
1. Rob Huff, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK 27 Laps
2. Tom Ingram, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS +1.395s
3. Tom Chilton, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS +1.855s 
4. Ash Sutton, NAPA Racing UK +2.641s
5. Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport +2.972s
6. Daniel Rowbottom, NAPA Racing UK +4.199s
7. Aiden Moffat, LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ +11.142s 
8. Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK +12.197s
9. Colin Turkington, Team BMW +12.307s
10. Ronan Pearson, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS +15.026s


Chris Tetreault-Blay
BTCC Journalist @ F1 Journal