Jake Hill grabs maiden BTCC pole ahead of WSR debut
Jake Hill emerged from a dramatic BTCC qualifying session with his maiden pole position ahead of his debut with WSR at Donington Park.
Hill has been forced to bring his FP2 for a halt early with a gearbox issue that the team worked hard to resolve in time for qualifying, which enabled the MB Motorsport-entered racer to lead the way in record-breaking fashion.
The drama developed before the session had even truly got going after Dan Cammish was forced to bail out of his Ford Focus when it burst into flames on the run to McLeans.
Cammish was able to escape the burning car as marshals rushed to extinguish the flames, with his Motorbase squad now facing a huge battle if it is to stand any chance of getting the car out for race day.
Once the session resumed, the times at the top plummeted with Ash Sutton briefly taking top spot before Hill laid down what would prove to be the pole time with a 1:08.418.
Colin Turkington would be the man who ran him closest at the end with a lap that was just 0.018s down in second, with Sutton only 0.005s further back in third spot in his Focus.
Tom Ingram, quickest in practice, would also be within a tenth of a second of pole in fourth spot in his Hyundai with the impressive George Gamble in fifth for his debut in the series with Ciceley Motorsport.
Gordon Shedden in the lead Honda then completed the top six.
Cammish wasn’t the only driver in the wars as Rory Butcher was sidelined by a driveshaft issue that leaves him down in 26th whilst Adam Morgan was also limited in terms of his time on track but took eighth.
