Hill, who finished second in his West Surrey Racing-run BMW 330e M Sport, was held responsible for the incident that sidelined three-time champion Ash Sutton’s Motorbase Performance Ford Focus ST.
The Kentishman has kept his second place in the results, but will start race two from fifth on the grid.
Hill made a better launch off the grid than Sutton and the polesitting Motorbase Ford of Dan Rowbottom, who was slow away.
Hill drew alongside Rowbottom and appeared to react to Sutton moving across the track. That led to contact between Hill and Rowbottom, which caused the BMW to then hit the Ford of Sutton from the rear.
Sutton was sent onto the grass by the contact, where the unlevel ground tore off the floor, which in turn pulled off the water radiator.
“I got a lovely launch,” said Sutton. “Dan then started moving across and after that I got hit in the back of the car [by Hill].
“That’s not classed as a significant overlap, and where there’s no significant overlap then you have to yield.”
Source: Autosport