BTCC The Contenders: Jake Hill

The reigning BTCC Champion after an epic title fight against Tom Ingram and Ash Sutton will go down as one of the best seasons of all time, but with everything resetting to zero in 2025, can Hill defend his title against his greatest rival and two of the top BTCC drivers statistically?

After competing in the Ginetta Junior winter series in 2008 claiming a one podium in the four races he contested, Jake Hill would continue in the Ginetta Junior category in 2009 competing in just over half of the races that season. He would take five podiums, three of them being race wins while also taking five poles that season. In 2010, Hill would then compete for the full season where he would finish 2nd in the Championship where he lost out to soon to be lifelong rival Tom Ingram. In 2010, Ingram took the Ginetta Junior Championship despite Jake having ten wins to his five. Having both made their debut for half the season in 2009 finishing 11th and 12th in the standings, the two have been almost inseparable ever since.

In 2011 the driver from Kent would compete in the Ginetta GT Supercup in the G50 class. Across the 26 races Hill would take four wins and seventeen podiums in the championship and would finish fourth on the season while Ingram took the title. In 2012 Hill would remain in the Ginetta GT Supercup but now competing in the faster G55 class. While he would initially miss out on the first three rounds (nine races) of the season, it wouldn’t take him ling to find his footing in the series taking a win in Snetterton. He would go on to take another five podiums that season and finish seventh in the standings.

In 2013 Hill would make his debut in the BTCC substituting for Liam Griffin at Croft. He took the opportunity with a solid showing taking the Jack Sears Trophy class victory in the first round of the meeting. Later that season he would replace Will Bratt for the final round at Brands Hatch where he would qualify tenth and score points in all three races.

2014 saw him compete in the Atom Cup UK taking four wins in four races while also racing on a few occasions in the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain series, taking a further three podiums.

2015 saw a return to the BTCC where he would once again take a single round entry before Team HARD took him on for the 2016 season. 2016 saw a consistent start for the now full season Jake Hill claiming a best finish of eighth overall and a few independent class podiums. 2017 was another improvement with more higher end points finishes overall and 10th place in the independent’s standings. 2018 saw Hill only compete in half the season with the team swapping him out mid-season. However, he did claim his first podium in the BTCC with a second place in the second race at Brands Hatch. 2019 saw him return full time to the BTCC with Hill finally taking a long-awaited victory in the third race at Knockhill claiming a further second place that season as well. He scored points at most races that year and finished fourth in the independent’s championship.

2020 saw more success and greater improvements from the British driver as he finished seventh in the overall standings claiming a further six podiums on the season. This was also the first time that Jake would race with the MB Motorsport outfit where he would race in the Honda civic.

Continuing his relationship with MB Motorsport, Hill would drive the Ford Focus ST in 2021 in his first manufacturer entry drive. Hill would certainly not disappoint taking two wins and nine podiums finishing fifth in the standings by seasons end, five points behind rival Ingram. 2022 would see the team become a BMW manufacturer entry with the now Rokit MB Motorsport becoming the sole focus of the team. His staggering climb up the points table climbed higher as the BMW driver was well suited to the rear wheel drive of Historic cars, so his light foot became his greatest strength in controlling the car. After a season where he claimed his most victories at the time with three and a further thirteen podiums, he was still within a shot of winning the title heading into the final round at Brands Hatch. But he would end up finishing third in points behind rivals Sutton and Ingram. 2023 saw him claim double the victories of what he had the previous year with six that season but was once again unable to beat Ingram’s consistency despite him only claiming two wins and Sutton’s pure dominance where he claimed twelve wins. But the season showed that he could be a championship contender with a solid second half the year bringing him closer to Sutton and Ingram.

Last season saw an intense title fight between Hill, Ingram, Sutton, Turkington, Cammish and Cook with all six drivers on top of their game but by the time it came down to the final three races at Brands Hatch, there was only really two drivers who could win it. Hill would face long time rival Tom Ingram in a three race square off where heading into that weekend, they were tied on points. Hill would take advantage of an earlier incident involving Ingram in the first race and with the swap of positions with teammate Turkington, they managed the fend off a hard charging Hyundai in Ingram meaning Hill would win race one over his rival. Race two saw Ingram take no prisoners and win race two ahead of Hill meaning it came down to the final race of the season with one point between them. The British weather became a factor in race three as rain dropped onto the circuit. Despite losing the position early to Ingram, the Hyundai’s pace was no match for the BMW driver and after years of falling short to his rival, he finally overcame his fellow Brit for the title in an intense finale at Brands Hatch, and in a poetic manner, at the same circuit he lost the Ginetta Junior Championship fourteen years ago.

After winning his first title last season, Jake Hill will remain with BMW and Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport for 2025 where they will have to tackle the new challenge of being the hunted as opposed to the hunter. The Kent Driver having raced with MB Motorsport for the last five seasons, where he has claimed 19 of his 20 race wins, seems to have switched his focus very quickly to 2025 after an eleven year wait for his eventual triumph and is not going to lift his foot off the pedal now.

After resigning with Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, Hill stated, “This year marks the earliest we have managed to get everything together and over the line for which I owe them a huge amount of thanks as there’s no time to stand still in the BTCC - which we certainly won’t be doing.”

Remaining in the BMW fold, the manufacturer and drivers champions last season seem the likely favourites on paper, but it could not be further from the truth with Ford and Hyundai eager to take away BMW’s manufacturers title glory which has only been done once in the last nine years by Ford in 2023. Meanwhile, the driver’s championship certainly won’t be plain sailing for Jake Hill in 2025. Much like his 2024 campaign, Tom Ingram, Ash Sutton and Colin Turkington will be once again aiming to take the title away from him.

Looking at last season, Jake having taken the most wins in 2024 with eight to his name certainly will be confidence boosting for the BMW driver, but his championship victory was also boosted by his consistently good finish positions. His average finish of 4.5 was the best of the season with only Dan Cammish having more points finishes then him out of the top six in the championship. Having only qualified on pole in Snetterton in 2024, compared to the four times title rival Ingram and teammate Turkington took pole on Saturdays, the sole Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport driver seems to have some struggles on Qualifying day as he has only claimed three poles in his time in the BTCC.

However, this lack of poles is often helped by the BMW’s rear wheel drive off the starts. Often getting quick getaways starts against all its front wheel drive rivals, this will once again be a major benefactor for Hill and the rest of the BMW squad. On the other hand, the lack of front grip in the opening laps can make defence quite difficult at times. But with the cars now being lighter and nimbler in 2025 due to the removal of the hybrid system, this could have a significant impact on the opening stages of the race.

Heading into 2025, Hill will not make it easy for anyone who looks to claim the crown and is not going to be complacent after winning in 2024 especially with the weight of winning a title no longer lingering.