Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport's Jake Hill became the first treble winner of the 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship as he backed up his recent Snetterton double by winning the opener here at Thruxton.
It's also the first time this season that a race one pole-sitter hasn't converted that to victory, as Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS' Tom Ingram bogged down at the start.
The #24 BMW 330e M Sport of Hill blasted off the line and nipped between second placed Dan Cammish and ahead of Ingram, as the latter got swamped by a trio of NAPA Racing UK cars.
There was contact further down the order early on as a clash between Team BMW's Adam Morgan and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK's Andrew Watson dislodged the tyre stack at the final chicane, resulting in a brief safety car period.
Things settled down among the top positions following the restart, albeit at a ferocious pace, as Hill led home the NAPA Racing UK duo of Cammish and championship leader Ash Sutton.
Ingram had muscled his way back into fourth to rescue some vital championship points, whilst Rowbottom and LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ's Josh Cook completed the top six places.
The feisty Tom Chilton continued to entertainment the crowds on his way to seventh, as he held off the Team BMW pairing of Morgan and Colin Turkington.
Árón Taylor-Smith took tenth and with it the Independents' victory, having staunchly defended his position from team-mate Mikey Doble.
The BTCC will be back on track for race two at 1435 with the finale taking place at 1720 – the action is already live and throughout the rest of the day on ITV4 with every race also being streamed live via the ITV Sport TikTok channel.
Jake Hill said: "The win, fastest lap and leading a lap – all those points count. The victory comes at a place I wasn't neccessarily expecting to win. The car didn't feel like a race winner yesterday, it didn't feel dominant like it did at Snetterton, but I can't thank Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport enough. Tom fluffed the start and we managed to get the job a done - and finally a win for me at Thruxton."
Thruxton - Race 1 - Classification
P/ No/ Name/ Entry/ Laps/ Time/ Gap/ Best/ On/
1 24 Jake HILL Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport 18 25:25.141 1:16.246 5
2 27 Dan CAMMISH NAPA Racing UK 18 25:26.357 1.216 1:16.306 6
3 1 Ashley SUTTON NAPA Racing UK 18 25:27.096 1.955 1:16.758 7
4 100 Tom INGRAM Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS 18 25:27.659 2.518 1:16.931 10
5 32 Daniel ROWBOTTOM NAPA Racing UK 18 25:33.059 7.918 1:16.716 7
6 66 Josh COOK LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ 18 25:38.288 13.147 1:16.564 6
7 3 Tom CHILTON Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS 18 25:41.880 16.739 1:17.380 8
8 33 Adam MORGAN Team BMW 18 25:43.906 18.765 1:17.563 9
9 20 Colin TURKINGTON Team BMW 18 25:44.292 19.151 1:17.798 8
10 40 Árón TAYLOR-SMITH Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing 18 25:44.893 19.752 1:17.962 9
11 88 Mikey DOBLE Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing 18 25:45.119 19.978 1:18.038 7
12 12 Rob HUFF TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK 18 25:46.020 20.879 1:17.936 11
13 11 Andrew WATSON TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK 18 25:49.758 24.617 1:18.149 17
14 16 Aiden MOFFAT LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ 18 25:52.105 26.964 1:18.307 8
15 14 Ronan PEARSON Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS 18 25:52.541 27.4 1:17.744 11
16 77 Sam OSBORNE NAPA Racing UK 18 25:53.542 28.401 1:17.780 7
17 222 Chris SMILEY Restart Racing 18 25:59.850 34.709 1:18.498 8
18 18 Daryl DELEON Duckhams Racing With Bartercard 18 26:02.135 36.994 1:18.683 8
19 22 Nick HALSTEAD Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS 18 26:14.065 48.924 1:19.521 6
DNF 29 Scott SUMPTON Restart Racing 13 19:23.060 5 Laps 1:18.759 6
