British Touring Car racer Jake Hill enjoyed his best weekend ever after a pair of podium finishes at Croft.

The Tunbridge Wells driver took second and third during the championship visit to north Yorkshire.

Hill’s success meant it wasn’t just him enjoying himself as the MB Motorsport team were also left celebrating their best BTCC weekend too.

He said: “After our start to the year it’s all about podiums and wins.

“This is the first time ever that I’ve scored two podiums in a weekend so it’s a right result!

“It’s been my best weekend ever and I just absolutely love the way the team and the car are going at the minute.”

Hill finished second in race one on a greasy surface, fending off defending champion Colin Turkington and pushing race winner Josh Cook all the way with a determined effort, battling side by side at one stage, finishing just 0.653 seconds behind the winner.

He went onto take third in the second race, despite carrying 54kg of success ballast, again keeping pace with winner Cook, this time with Matt Neal sandwiched inbetween. Neal had taken the flag but was relegated to second after an over-zealous move. Hill managed to recover from a coming together with Ash Sutton, continuing without major damage.

In the reverse-grid race three, Hill was carrying 48kg of success ballast and he finished seventh, having been as high as fifth at one point.

Hill commented: “Had it not been for a bad start in race three, I think we could have up there in the top four in the final race as well, but I'm not going to complain.

“It wasn’t a circuit where I expected us to be strong and instead it has been one of our best weekends of the season, which is a nice surprise.”

Team principal Shaun Hollamby saluted the “exceptional job” Hill had done while sporting director Mark Blundell added: “It's great for the team to have picked up a first double podium. Jake has done a fantastic job on track and his talent has shone through.”

The best result of the weekend for Wrotham-based Motorbase Performance went to Rory Butcher in the opening race but he was penalised by the addition of two seconds to his overall time for gaining an unfair advantage during an incident with Ash Sutton on the opening lap. It meant Sutton took fourth and he dropped to fifth.

Butcher went off the track early in race two, while team-mate Ollie Jackson suffered a puncture. Scottish driver Butcher was able to score a single point, however, for setting the fastest lap after he’d returned to the action from a visit to the pits. He finished 19th.

“Not quite the weekend we had hoped for but we'll be back stronger at Snetterton,” tweeted Butcher, ending the weekend 52 points behind championship leader Sutton. Hill sits 11th, just a point behind 10th placed man Cook.

Honda racer, Michael Crees, from Broadstairs, qualified ninth but finished a lap behind in 22nd on race one after a water-leak meant he missed the grid. He had a DNF in the second outing - competing in his 50th BTCC race - suffering a misfire after making up 10 places. More mechanical issues meant race three was another DNF, meaning a promising start to the weekend ended in disappointment.

The championship resumes at Snetterton on October 24-25.

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