Jake Hill Powers to Three Top-Tens at Oulton Park
Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport rolled into Oulton Park for Round Five of the 2025 BTCC under blazing Cheshire sunshine, and while qualifying was a wake-up call, Jake Hill turned that early setback into three gritty top-ten finishes.
The weekend kicked off with two slick practice sessions, but the WSR-built BMW 330i M Sport struggled for balance in the heat, posting P16 and P19. Qualifying on Saturday proved equally tight—Jake missed the cut for Q2 by just 0.1 seconds, slotting into P13 on the grid. Not ideal, but far from the end of the story.
Race 1 on Sunday dawned dry and warm. From seven rows back, Jake wasted no time: two bold moves on lap 1 vaulted him into P11 before the safety car reset the field. When the green flag flew again, he hunted forward relentlessly, carving through traffic to hit P8 at halfway. A perfect sixth overtake late on sealed a P7 finish—and a fourth-row start for the next race.
In Race 2, Hill’s opening salvo saw him snake up to P6 before another safety car bunched everybody up. Undeterred, Jake pounced at the restart, slotting past a rival into P5, where he tormented the pack to the finish line and pocketed vital points.
Then came the drama of Race 3. Rain fell just minutes before the lights went out, forcing a switch to wets. From P5 he launched like a rocket, slicing past two cars into the podium hunt by Turn 1. When Josh Cook ran wide at Old Hall, Jake seized P2 and set his sights on the leader. But a double safety-car intervention, a drying track punishing wet tyres, and yellow flags in the best overtaking zones conspired against him. A late slip dropped him back to P7—but even so, three top-ten results capped off a weekend of relentless recovery.
When the dust settled, Hill sat fifth in the standings on 143 points, carrying momentum into the summer break before the series resumes at Croft on August 2–3.
Jake Hill commented: “It’s been a mixed weekend really, two sevenths and a fifth from 13th on the grid isn’t bad, but it shows our qualifying didn’t reflect the pace we actually had. I’m proud of how the team pulled together without my Race Engineer, Craig—he’s been helping from his hospital bed, and my Data Engineer Rob stepped up massively, alongside the support of Dick and everyone at WSR.
“Race Three was frustrating—running second then dropping back hurts, but I’m pushing flat-out just to stay in the fight. We’re not in a place to fight for the title this year, so it’s about making the most of the moments we get. Big thanks to everyone at Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport and WSR, and to all the fans sticking with us. A well-earned summer break now to reset and come back stronger.”
Photos: Jakob Ebrey
