Racer Hills impresses to record another podium

The Mazda MX-5 Supercup moved to the famous Castle Combe Circuit in Wiltshire for rounds 13, 14 and 15 of the championship.
Aidan Hills was on the podium for a fifth successive race at the recent Castle Coombe Circuit eventAidan Hills was on the podium for a fifth successive race at the recent Castle Coombe Circuit event
Aidan Hills was on the podium for a fifth successive race at the recent Castle Coombe Circuit event

Worthing-based racer Aidan Hills, 22, took to the journey full of confidence having been on the podium in the previous four race meetings, which saw him placed fourth on the leaderboard out of 40 drivers.

Qualifying did not go to plan for Hills as he could only manage lap times good enough to see him start sixth for races one and two.

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Hills got a trademark fast start in the opening race which saw him move up to third after two corners. An amazing move round the outside of two championship rivals saw him take the lead through the daunting quarry corner. His lead was short-lived after a mistake a few laps later dropped him back to sixth before he managed to battle his way back up to finish fourth, earning fastest lap in the process.

The second race saw Hills start in sixth once again. Putting the disappointment from race one to one side, Hills put all his focus on getting a strong result and making sure he stayed in the championship hunt. Getting off to another great start, Hills managed to claw his way up to fourth after the first two corners.

At the end of lap two the race was red flagged (stopped) due to a major accident involving three other drivers, thankfully all involved came away unscathed but the race was abandoned.

That meant race three was cancelled and race two would run later that day. The re-run of the second race saw Hills climb to third and soon in another battle for the lead.

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He pushed hard to get into the lead and went on the outside in quarry corner, where he ran wide and got the car sideways. Hills just managed to catch the slide but as a result, he dropped back to sixth position with eight laps left.

A storming comeback saw Hills pick off the other drivers one by one, showing his fantastic overtaking skill in the process.

He found himself second with two laps to go. There was a 2.5 second gap to catch the leader, Hills pushed hard but came up short at the finish line. Once again Hills posted the fastest lap time, this time while chasing down the leader which gave him a valuable two bonus points in the championship.

Reflecting on an eventful weekend of race action, Hills said: “Wow, what a race that was. Starting from sixth made it difficult but I got up to the front quickly and really wanted to get my first win. In hindsight I should have sat second for a couple of laps instead of pushing too hard to get into the lead. But fighting back through the field and posting fastest lap was good fun. To finish second but be that close to my first win is hard to take but another solid podium, making it five in as many meetings is amazing, and taking more points than anyone over the weekend is really going to help our championship battle.

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“I obviously have to thank my dad, DMH Motors, DMH Storage and Discount Tyre Direct for all of the support they give me!”

Hills has moved up to third in the championship standings after his successful weekend at Castle Combe.

The championship now heads to the challenging Oulton Park Circuit.

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