Podium Performance at Thruxton in the BTCC

STORY OF THE DAY

Race 1

• After their front-row qualifying result on Saturday, MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square looked to translate that a strong performance on Race Day
• Lining up P2 and P20 for the first race respectively, Jake Hill and Ollie Jackson both made impressive starts to the first race
• Jake made light work of despatching pole sitter Dan Rowbottom whilst Ollie climbed four places on the opening tour of the Hampshire circuit
• At the chequered flag, Jake held firm to convert his P2 starting spot to his best race result of the season whilst Ollie moved up the order to P18

Race 2

• Starting P2 and P18 in race two, the team were able to maintain their form
• After the 16-lap contest, Jake crossed the line P4 and Ollie preserving his P18 spot

Race 3

• After the reverse grid draw, Jake lined up P5 for the final race with Ollie keen to continue his push through the field
• A fast start from Jake allowed him to progress to P4
• Following a lengthy safety car period, Jake was firmly in the hunt for victory in the top-four battle
• As both cars got stuck into battle, another safety car limited their chances to progress
• An issue with the front right then forced Ollie into an early retirement and called out the safety car for its final appearance
• In a quick three-lap sprint to the finish, Jake hounded Senna Proctor but was unable to find a way past and took the chequered flag in P4

Ollie Jackson - #48 MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square:

“Sadly another difficult day for us as we never really got a chance to show what we could do. I was happy to make up some places in the first race and pushed hard in the second and third but couldn’t quite get the guys ahead. It was a shame to end the weekend with a retirement which adds to the disappointment. We’ll make use of this short couple of weeks and come back stronger at Croft.”

Jake Hill - #24 MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square:

“After yesterday’s performance in qualifying, I was quite confident we could take full advantage of that and take it to the podium. The car felt very good all day and I was thrilled to take P2 in race one for our best result of the season. Our main aim was to get on the podium but we wanted a top-five finish in each race at the very least so I was pleased with P4 in races two and three. The championship is really closing up with little to separate us from second to fifth so it’s all to play for as we head to Croft.”

Mark Blundell - Sporting Director, MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square:

“Well done to all of the team and everyone at Motorbase for another podium-scoring performance today. The margins were very close in all three races so the team should be pleased with their efforts and the results. Thruxton is a fast circuit where you’re on the edge all of the time so Jake’s podium is very well deserved. I feel for Ollie after his retirement but I know he’ll use that disappointment to bounce back at Croft in two weeks time.”