Once he had got the jump on the Motorbase Performance Ford Focus ST of poleman Sutton at the start, it was imperative for Hill to keep the 2023 points leader at bay while the tyres on his rear-wheel-drive West Surrey Racing-run BMW 330e M Sport got up to temperature.
Sutton tried a move on the outside of the Island hairpin on the opening lap, but Hill held on.
Next, Sutton got a run on Hill out of Old Hall on the second lap and drew alongside at the Dentons kink – the two rubbed bodywork as Hill just held on and claimed the inside line for Cascades.
Hill and Sutton traded fastest laps in the opening stages, and the honour finally fell to the BMW driver, who managed to eke out an advantage of over a second by the end of the sixth tour.
From then on Hill held the gap mainly between 1-1.5s over the remainder of the race, before finally crossing the line 1.874s to the good.
“It feels like it’s been a bit of a one-man show so far,” said Hill, whose win was his first of the season.
“Especially on the soft tyre, the BMW’s extremely strong off the line – I got a fantastic start and I’m not sure Ash got the best of starts.
“We all know the Ford’s incredibly strong at the start of a race, but my car came on by the second lap and I was able to disappear.”
Source: Autosport