“I grew up in the PlayStation era – even to this day I play Gran Turismo. The Nissan Skyline was always my dream car, and it’s the favourite of those that I’ve driven.”
British Touring Car Championship star Jake Hill was probably never going to choose the NGTC Volkswagen CC as the machine that gets his mouth salivating. But alongside the competitive weaponry he’s more recently taken to 12 BTCC race wins, there is a whole squadron of historic exotica he has raced or tested. And it’s Ric Wood’s recreation of Kazuyoshi Hoshino’s 1990 All-Japan Touring Car title-winning Skyline GT-R that tops them.
“I’m lucky enough to own a Skyline – I bought one in 2017, and my love for them just grew further, despite them being a massive pain in the arse!” he laughs. “But nonetheless, Ric’s race car is just insane. The Group A era is my favourite of touring cars anyway, and I think there’s no more famous Japanese Touring Car than the Calsonic Skyline.
“Yes, it’s not the original, but my God it’s as close to it as you can get. I absolutely love it, and it’s one of my favourite racing cars full stop, it really lights my fire.
“I first got the offer to drive it at the Oulton Park Gold Cup in 2019. I was on a wine tour with Hannah [Hill’s fiancee] and her family, and I got a call from Ric saying, ‘Can you come up this weekend? I’d really like you to drive the Skyline.’
“I went up to Oulton Park and jumped in it for qualifying. It was still plagued with some issues – it was a fairly new project for Ric then, but I’ll never forget the smile on my face when I drove it out of the pitlane.
“In 2020 we did the Goodwood SpeedWeek when there were no fans. We did a one-lap time attack on the circuit, and we finished sixth overall and top touring car, and that’s really what put me and the Skyline on the centre stage.
Source: Autosport