Platts Heath’s Jake Hill was once again up for the Shootout challenge at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The British Touring Car Championship leader is enjoying the series’ summer break, starring at Brands Hatch’s Super Touring Power 2 meeting earlier this month, and was part of the line-up in West Sussex this year, 12 months after setting a new hillclimb record driving a Ric Wood Motorsport-prepared Calsonic Nissan Skyline R32 GTR.

There was no record run this time - instead twice Tin Top winner Hill had to contend with a loss of second gear as he got back behind the wheel of the Skyline - but plenty of fun was had all the same in this year’s Sunday Shootout, where he finished sixth in 48.92sec driving the only manual transmission machine after qualifying 10th on Saturday.

"That was wild,” Hill enthused. “The car was so much better today [than Saturday], but not having second gear meant I had to go straight from first to third gear off the line, which cost us so much time.

“Last year we managed a 48.21 and this year everyone's times are slower because the track has less grip, so to set the time we did in those circumstances was just amazing.

“A huge thanks as always to the crew at Ric Wood Motorsport - Ric, Ollie, Jenny and Phil - taking the differential out was a mammoth job so thanks so much to them all for their hard work. Thanks also to his Grace (Charles Gordon Lennox, Duke of Richmond and Goodwood owner) and the Goodwood team for having us again - it was just brilliant.

“My dad, Simon, was watching at the top of the hill and I got to give him a lift back down hanging on to the roll cage in the passenger side which was mega - he was giggling like a little kid he loved it so much.”

As well as taking the Nissan Skyline up the iconic hill over the course of the week, Hill got to drive the 1970 Shadow MK1 'Mosport' Can Am car prepared by Era Motorsport and part of a special nine-car demonstration that included Can Am, Formula 1 and Formula 5000 machinery from the 1970s.

"[That was] by far the wildest car I have ever driven,” Hill added. “It is quite literally just a huge engine on a tiny chassis - the acceleration is insane - and the handling completely different to anything else. But it sounds amazing and is such a spectacular thing to drive.

“I am hugely grateful to Kyle Tilley and the Era Motorsport crew for once again trusting me with the car."

Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport’s Hill returns to BTCC action at Croft in North Yorkshire from July 27-28.