BTCC: Hill wins on return at Knockhill

Jake Hill on his return to the BTCC after missing the Croft rounds came back strong with a win in the opening race of the Knockhill weekend.

The race start saw Charles Rainford on pole from Daryl DeLeon and Hill in a BMW 1-2-3 start as the pace of the rear wheel drive car looked strong here. The three would remain in the same order ahead of Tom Ingram but Senna Proctor would be left to battle Dan Cammish into the first corner, managing to hold in to 5th place. Further back, Dan Rowbottom would jump 7 places on the opening lap after starting from the back of the grid before making another move to get by Tom Chilton.

Back up front, Proctor would get by teammate Ingram for 4th place as he sets his sights on the BMW's in front who are also using the soft tyres. Rowbottom would continue to make places passing Dan Lloyd for 13th while Adam Morgan would manage to jump ahead of Chris Smiley. Ash Sutton would put pressure on Árón Taylor-Smith for 8th place trying to find a way by but can't quite force the Toyota into a mistake. Rowbottom would make a move past Smiley on lap 7 as well following teammate Sam Osborne as they move into 11th and 12th.

Heading into lap 8, DeLeon would make a pass for the lead on the grass as the BMW's scrap enough to allow the Hyundai of Proctor to get into the fight. Soon another move for the lead would allow Rainford back through which gave Hill and Proctor enough opportunity to pass the significantly hampered BMW.

Sutton, in the meantime, would manage to finally get by the Toyota of Taylor-Smith for 8th place as a train if cars started to form behind the Toyota. Osborne would try a move down the main straight before getting partially onto the grass allowing the Toyota to keep the position.

Another lap passes as Hill would try to make a move on Rainford to take the lead into the final corner before deciding to take the run on exit to take the lead from Rainford in an excellent move. Taylor-Smith would continue to defend from Osborne before a costly attempt at an overtake led to a position lost to Morgan who makes the move to jump into the top 10.

The battle for the Independents win would turn into Smiley's favour as he manages to get passed Dexter Patterson for 12th overall in an excellent battle between the two. Meanwhile just in front of them, Osborne was pushing Morgan hard to try and get by but was unable to make anything work.

Hill would try to lap Nick Halstead in the Cupra but would end up making contact and spinning the Cupra into the gravel which causes a Safety Car.

A three lap sprint to the finish would be the case at the end of the tried Safety Car period as all drivers would be looking to frantically take a few extra positions. Hill would get away well from Rainford and Proctor while the rest look to make positions. Aiden Moffat would try and defend from Sutton in 6th place as DeLeon applied pressure to the two in front but they both manage to maintain position in the final few laps.

Out front, the BMW of Hill took victory ahead of Rainford in a 1-2 for the team. Proctor would allow Ingram through on the exit of the final corner so Proctor can use the soft tyre in race 2. With Ingram finishing in third and Proctor in 4th, Cammish would round out the top 5 ahead of Moffat, Sutton and DeLeon. Taylor-Smith and Osborne would round out the top 10 in a very closely fought battle.