Photo: PSP Images

Jake Hill replaces Liam Griffin at Motorbase for Croft

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19-year-old Jake Hill will replace Liam Griffin this weekend at Croft for the fifth round of the British Touring Car Championship in the Motorbase Performance Ford Focus S2000 car, with Griffin unavailable due to business commitments.

Hill will be making his BTCC debut in the Super 2000 specification Ford Focus. Hill has been a regular on the TOCA support package since 2009 racing in the Ginetta G20 and GT Supercup series until this year, when he was left without a drive after a sponsor’s withdrawal at the last minute.

“Jake tested with us at the end of last season along with another local lad, Tom Grainger,” said Motorbase Team Principal David Bartrum.

“The whole idea of the test was to give two Kent-based youngsters the opportunity to sample the S2000 touring car and for us to offer two developing young talents the experience and chance to raise their profile. When the opportunity came up through Liam and Addison Lee to put a replacement driver in the car for Croft we thought we would give Jake the chance in the car as he was very capable and knows the TOCA package quite well.”

Griffin’s absence from the grid will be a blow to his campaign for the Jack Sears Trophy for S2000 cars. Griffin currently sits second in the classification with four wins so far, whilst JWT Performance’s Lea Wood leads the category on five wins heading into this weekend.

“It’s such an amazing opportunity that David [Bartrum] has kindly given me the chance to have another run in the car, and this time in an actual race,” said Hill. “I can’t describe how thankful I am to Liam and everyone at Addison Lee Motorbase for letting me have this opportunity and I intend to make the most of it and do the best job I possibly can at the weekend.

“I’ve spent my whole racing career watching the touring cars, so to finally be on the same grid as them is like a dream come true. As long as I get my head around the car, I’m confident that I can put in a good challenge and my aim is to win at least one Jack Sears Trophy this weekend. I can’t wait!”