RACING LINES
Damien Smith
Hill claimed his maiden BTCC drivers’ crown in the final race of the season
That’s my boy!” cried Simon Hill as his
“
son clambered onto the roof of his
BMW and punched the air. Jake Hill,
2024 British Touring Car Champion. In those precious moments of high emotion at a dusky Brands Hatch, it was too much to comprehend for the 30-year-old and his beloved old man. By now, hopefully they will have had time to reflect and savour the biggest prize in British motorsport. And it will taste all the sweeter, given the style in which Hill landed it, at the home circuit that he knows so well.
PATH OPENS UP
Aday earlier, Hill had been down in the dumps. Equal on points with Tom Ingram ahead of the finale, he had qualified his WSR BMW only on the third row, while his rival’s Excelr8 Hyundai was up front, next to pole man Colin Turkington’s BMW. But at Druids for the first time, the title destiny swung. Josh Cook’s Toyota slewed out of control, through damage or a puncture, and slammed into Ash Sutton’s Alliance Ford, which in turn clattered Ingram’s Hyundai. Suddenly, the seas had parted and, in the space of a few yards, Hill rose from fifth to second. Turkington, always a class act, accepted his role on this day as aWSR team player and soon handed the lead and the opening race victory to Hill. But Ingram wasn’t done and sliced back through the pack to finish third, his Hyundai fully hooked up around the Grand Prix circuit. The gap was now five points with two races to go.