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Autosport
Autosport
Stefan Mackley

BTCC star Hill to race Century BMW in British GT

Hill has become a championship challenger in the BTCC having joined West Surrey Racing in 2022 before going on to finish third in the standings, while he currently sits fifth in this year’s order after two rounds.

The 29-year-old will swap his BMW 330e M-Sport for a M4 GT3 machine on two occasions this year, beginning with the next round of British GT at the end of the month.

"This is my debut in GT3. It's not my debut in British GT because I did it once upon a time in a GT4 Porsche with AmD and Shaun [Hollamby] in 2015," said Hill.

"So I'm not a complete stranger to British GT, but it has changed massively since I was last there. I am extremely excited about it. It's a new chapter, something I've wanted to do for a little while."

Hill has made numerous one-off appearances in a variety of machines over the last few years, primarily historics, and sees the British GT outings as a chance to experience a new car.

"To be honest it's just testing the water, and it's a great experience to jump at," he said. "I'm not eyeing a switch from the BTCC; it's just that this opportunity has come about.

"I wanted to do some modern GT racing. It had to be in a BMW because of my BTCC commitments, but I see that only as a positive. The M4 is currently one of the best three GT cars to be in in the world."

Jake Hill (Photo by: Jakob Ebrey)

He will partner former RJN McLaren driver Simon Watts, who raced alongside James Kell in British GT last season, the pair having already teamed up at Peter Auto Series and Masters Historic events.

Century currently leads the drivers’ championship after BMW factory driver Dan Harper and Darren Leung took victory at the Silverstone 500, with team boss Nathan Freke excited by the squad’s newest combination.

"I’ve known Jake since I was racing in the Ginetta G50 series and he was in Ginetta Juniors way back in 2009, and he has gone on to become one of the real stars of the BTCC, especially since he joined WSR BMW last year.

"He has shown how adaptable he is in all kinds of cars, including of course racing with Simon very successfully in various Historic series, and Simon himself had some really strong races last season with RJN, so I’m really excited to have them onboard, and I’m sure they will work really well with Dan and Darren and the team."

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