Dream Start for Trade Price Cars Racing at Brands Hatch

Trade Price Cars Racing team celebrated an exhilarating start to the new Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season with a podium finish first time out at Brands Hatch.

Rising star Jake Hill and former F1 racer Mark Blundell didn’t have the easiest of starts in the Audi S3s, but overcame a difficult starting grid position to secure a 2nd and 4th place finish in the first two races and make dreams of a BTCC title challenge for Trade Price Cars and AmD Tuning seem a reality.

Jake made rapid progress from 15th in the starting grid, with the end result being a memorable 2nd place finish; matching his best result from twelve months ago and securing the best result in the series for the Audi S3.

Having rolled the dice with his tyre choice to get to the front, Jake showed lightning pace once again in the second race of the weekend and managed a hard-fought fourth place finish. With more valuable points on the board, he and the team looked well placed to make it a hat-trick of top-six finishes in race three until damage to the car forced him to retire. However, he ends the weekend sitting sixth in both the overall and Independents’ Trophy standings.

Jake Hill had this to say

“It’s been a great way to start the season and I have to say a huge thank you to everyone in the Trade Price Cars Racing team for their work. To come away from Brands Hatch with a podium finish is fantastic and has given us something to build on.”

A New Experience

Team-mate Mark was left with work to do going into race day after an incident in qualifying resulted in him losing his quickest time in the session, which meant he started his maiden race in the series down in 28th place.

Like Jake, Mark elected to run slick tyres, which added an extra challenge in the opening laps as he waited for the track conditions to come to him. Soon making up places, Mark climbed steadily through the field to run as high as twelfth and would cross the line at the end in 14th place to secure a points finish on his first outing in the car.

Mark Blundell shared his thoughts –

“This weekend has been one of the biggest challenges of my career in terms of the learning curve I’ve faced; it’s been incredibly steep. I’ve had to learn about the car, the racing environment and the challenges of managing a soft tyre that certainly wasn’t the optimal one for the conditions. “Overall, there is a huge amount that I can take away from Brands Hatch and the team has done a great job. Jake has picked up some really good results, and I’m pleased to have been able to score some points first time out in the car.
“To get three finishes and come back with a car that is in one piece is a plus point for me. My lap times have been competitive which is good, as I know that I still need to find some raw pace. When I do that, I feel I’ll be in a good place. I have to analyse and reflect on everything that I have learned this weekend and then take that into Donington Park next time out.” 

Congratulations to the Trade Price Cars team for this fantastic achievement. We’re delighted to be a sponsor for the upcoming campaign, and we will be sure to keep you updated on their achievements throughout the season.