Jake Hill took a last-gasp victory within the closing race of the Oulton Park British Touring Automotive Championship spherical to maneuver into the sequence lead.
Hill had chiselled his approach via the reversed-grid order till he discovered himself on the rear bumper of the Energy Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra of polesitter Mikey Doble, and eventually pulled off an audacious manoeuvre with half a lap remaining.
From fourth on the grid, Hill and his rear-wheel-drive West Surrey Racing BMW 330e M Sport surprisingly didn’t make up any positions initially, however he did handle to drag off a transfer on Dan Cammish to get previous the Alliance Racing Ford Focus ST on the opening lap.
Out entrance, Doble was doing an outstanding job of main a BTCC race for the primary time and was gapping veteran team-mate Aron Taylor-Smith, who was preserving the chasing hordes at bay.
Hill’s favoured place for strikes was across the outdoors of the hairpin, however couldn’t fairly make something occur till the tenth lap of 15, when he used a blast of hybrid to finish the transfer on Taylor-Smith beneath brakes for the hairpin.
Immediately Hill zoned in on Doble, however going into the ultimate laps the BMW had run out of hybrid whereas the Vauxhall nonetheless had two left.
However Doble then used his remaining hybrid and with two laps to go each of the main duo had been out of the ability enhance.
Hill went to the surface of the hairpin, and the 2 continued aspect by aspect down the hill to the chicane, the place the BMW went across the outdoors of the primary apex and claimed the within of the second.
He had simply three corners to barter for his fifth win of the season, adopted by the 2 Vauxhalls.
The Laser Instruments-liveried BMW pilot reckoned the transfer on Taylor-Smith occurred simply within the nick of time to go after Doble.
“I might sense he was beginning to wrestle a bit,” he mentioned. “I might stick with Aron even with out utilizing any hybrid.
“Then I acquired a punch of it right down to the hairpin, and I used to be actually stunned he let me have it.
“I then had a improbable race with Mikey. I actually loved it – as a lot as I really feel sorry for him for depriving him of his first win, I’ve acquired a championship to win.”
Tom Ingram was fourth in his Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 N after a mid-race transfer on Cammish at {Old} Corridor, with Cammish and the sister Ford of Dan Rowbottom subsequent.
An oil return pipe on the turbo got here adrift on Ingram’s Hyundai, that means smoke was emanating it – and it even caught fireplace when he returned to the pitlane after the race.
Ash Sutton had simply moved onto the tail of his team-mates when harm to his front-right wheel arch despatched him to the pits when it reduce into the tyre. He rejoined, however gained just one level for quickest lap.
Adam Morgan (WSR BMW) acquired previous Josh {Cook} (Speedworks Toyota) on the ultimate lap for seventh, whereas Chris Smiley put his Restart Racing Cupra within the factors once more in ninth forward of Rob Huff’s Toyota.
Colin Turkington held on nicely in seventh place in his WSR BMW for 3 laps, solely to be despatched broad in a collision with Smiley on the chicane, after which be tipped right into a spin in a conflict with Aiden Moffat’s Toyota at Lodge.