The omens are looking good for Jake Hill as he chases his first win of the new British Touring Car Championship campaign at Brands Hatch this weekend.

Hill last tasted BTCC victory for Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport at Brands’ GP circuit in the final round of the 2023 campaign as he finished third in the standings for the second consecutive year.

Now back on home turf, and with two third-place finishes from the opening round at a rain-hit Donington two weeks ago, the Platts Heath racer is hoping to bag his first win of 2024 on the track’s Indy layout and is chomping at the bit to get going in his BMW 330e M Sport.

“I won the last round [at Brands last year], round 30, finally my first win on the GP circuit at Brands Hatch in a touring car,” Hill told KMTV.

“I’d won there in my lower categories but it was a fantastic end to what was a good season.

“I’m extremely excited to go back to the Indy circuit, it’s my home circuit, I’m a Kent boy through and through and I absolutely love it there so I’m really excited to see how we get on.

“We’re making big strides again with the car, Donington was an amazing learning curve for us with effectively our new 3 Series BMW and I’m super excited to get to Brands.”

Since 2022 Hill has scored nine BTCC wins, six of them last season, so another championship challenge is all part of the long-term plan he envisaged when he swapped Ford for the German marque.

“That was one of the big reasons for moving to BMW simply because it gave me the opportunity to potentially win a championship,” he said.

“For the last two years I’ve finished in third place, which is obviously pretty strong, but we want to go one step further and try and win this thing once and for all.

“Hopefully we can. Team BMW and BMW UK have put a lot of effort into this year’s car, we’ve got a new engine, we’ve got massive chassis upgrades and we've got a complete aero/facelift with our 3 Series BMW bodywork as well, so there’s a lot of changes.

“It really does feel like a new car and that’s why we are still learning it but I must say as something straight out of the box it’s pretty good.”

Hill warmed up for this weekend’s action with a quick return to Donington for the circuit’s Historic Festival, winning the three-hour Royal Automobile Pall Mall Cup alongside co-driver Kyle Tilley in a 1965 TVR Griffith.

However Hill’s scheduled ride in a 1961 E-Type Jaguar with Gregor Fisken for last Sunday’s Pre-63 GT race was cancelled. A problem in qualifying - despite Hill finishing third - put the car out of action for the rest of the meeting.