Driving on the magnificent Spa-Francorchamps circuit, home of the Belgian Grand Prix, Kent’s Jake Hill took Simon Watts’ mighty Panoz LMP07 2002 LMP900 Le Mans to a hard-fought podium in the opening Peter Auto Endurance Legends race, before a high-speed tyre failure ended his challenge in the ‘Night Race’ later that day.
Hill headed into qualifying on Friday never having driven the Panoz on the daunting 4.35 mile circuit, and despite the car struggling for straight-line speed set the third fastest time, going fastest overall in the night session, before being pipped by former Sebring winner Marino Franchitti on the last lap of the session.
“As always the team at John Danby Racing gave me a fantastic car, which meant I had lots of confidence, but Spa is scary place and it takes a little time to get completely ‘on it’ so to be challenging for Pole Position in both sessions was really pleasing”
Driving solo and ranked as an ‘Elite’ driver, Hill was given a 60 second penalty for both races, the time added during the mandatory pit-stops in each of the 40 minute races.
A strong start and feisty early laps saw Hill up to second in the opening race first thing on Saturday morning, before the penalty during the stops dropped him down to eleventh place, leading to a charging drive that gradually saw him work his way through the pack, and ultimately up to a hard-earned Third place at the end.
“That was a busy race! A shame to have the penalty but one of those things. The car was great and we narrowly missed out on fastest lap, so overall a great start to the day”
With Franchitti’s car withdrawn, Hill would start the Night Race on the front-row, alongside the rapid Ferrari 333SP of Lecourt.
Determined to make the most of his opportunity, Hill judged the rolling start perfectly and braking incredibly late, swept around the outside of the yellow Ferrari and blasted into the lead.
Setting rapid times in the opening laps, Hill edged away, with race one winner Christian Glaesel now up to second place, but Hill now 6.62 second ahead at the end of lap three.
However as Hill charged through the challenging Stavelot and Blanchimont corners, he noticed the car moving around at the rear, and as he braked for the Bus Stop Chicane the left rear tyre failed, pitching the White and Gold machine off the road.
Hill crawled into the pits where the team decided to retire the car, with extensive bodywork damage and rear light failure, and concerns over the rear suspension.
“So frustrating! The car was incredible, and I absolutely loved the challenge of driving Spa at night. It felt odd going through the quick stuff out the back – started to understeer – then ‘bang’…that was it. I guess at least it happened at a slow corner or it could have been pretty scary! Annoyingly had I arrived 30 seconds later I would have been in the permitted Pit Stop ‘Window’ which would have given us two minutes to try and sort the car. Never mind! Huge thanks as always to John (Danby), Tom, Louie and Darren from JDR for doing a brilliant job, and of course to Simon Watts for giving me this wonderful opportunity to drive this car on this circuit. It’s been mega!”
Hill returns to the UK and is immediately back in action at Thruxton this weekend for the third Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship event in his Rocket MB Motorsport BMW 330e M Sport, hoping to build on his strong start to the season so far.
“We took Pole, a Win and a new Lap Record at Donington, challenged for the lead in all three races last time out at Brands Hatch, and took Second Place in the final race, and that’s put me fourth in the points. I was fastest in the morning test session at Thruxton last month, and had four podiums here last year in the two events, so I’m really confident we will be strong. Also having attacked Eau Rouge at 165mph in a Panoz it shouldn’t be quite as daunting at Thruxton as it normally would be!”
Catch BTCC qualifying live on itv.com at 3.15pm this Saturday 28th May, with all three BTCC races live on ITV4 at 11.40am, 2.40pm and 5.20pm – with coverage starting at 11am.