A star from another discipline of motorsport, making his Nürburgring 24 Hours debut this weekend, having earned his Permit A aboard a Lionspeed GP-run Porsche Cayman?
For Max Verstappen, read Jake Hill.
The 2024 British Touring Car drivers’ champion has pivoted to endurance racing for 2026, having dipped his toe in the water last year with a 24H Series campaign with Era Motorsport, a team he now races for full-time.
“It’s a complete change,” Hill tells DSC. “I was a relatively big fish in a small pond, and now I’m absolutely nothing in GTs, it’s like starting again.
“Really, only a few people would have heard of me, and those guys are probably British, so it’s definitely hard trying to establish yourself again. I’m relying on people who have worked with me, who can vouch for me, to know that I can do a good job.”
For the 32-year-old, the differences between his former career and his current one are endless, with new cars, new race lengths and a new mentality required. One factor, however, stands out above the rest.
“I think the biggest thing is not so much the racing side of it, although I do miss the door-to-door side style that touring cars has for sure, because that’s how I’ve been brought up to race,” Hill says.
“The big one is sharing cars. Typically, if I’ve ever made a mistake, it’s on me, whereas if your teammate makes a mistake, then it can be disheartening at times. Sometimes that’s hard to take, but you have to realise you’re a team, you’re one car, and it almost doesn’t matter who’s in the car.
“You’re together, you win and lose together, and that’s how it is. And once you understand that, then it makes life a bit easier.”
This weekend, Hill will share the #18 Lionspeed GP Porsche 911, entered in the SP 9 Pro-Am class, with Era Motorsport founder Kyle Tilley, Lionspeed founder Patrick Kolb and ex-Audi factory driver Max Hofer, as he ticks another item off of his bucket list.
“The only 24 hours I’ve done before are Dubai and Barcelona, and they’re relatively normal 24-hour races in comparison to this one,” he states. “I’m definitely a fresh face to it all.
“But at the same time, I’ve got great teammates in Patrick, Kyle and Max, and the Lionspeed Porsche is awesome to drive around here. All of that side is good, it’s just me that needs to spend a bit more time.”
Part of this experience deficit is down to a disrupted preparation, with Hill’s lead-in to the Nürburgring 24 Hours debut having been far from ideal.
Adverse weather conditions called off NLS1, delaying earning his Permit A, while he couldn’t contest NLS2 due to a clash with the 24H Series. A similar clash impacted the Qualifiers weekend, where he had to split his time between the ‘Ring and the 24H Series’ 12 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
“One thing I’ve come to realise, doing any of the NLS or the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, is actually you don’t get that much time to drive,” Hill reflects.
“This weekend, I think the weather has played such a big part in that, and it’s taken some time away from everyone with it being so bad at times. But also, with four drivers and an average lap time of 8:30, the time eats away at the session, and not all of us are able to do the amount of time we’d like to.
“We definitely all feel a little bit low on the driving side of it. I personally have only driven the car in the dry for two laps in qualifying at NLS4, and that’s it. I haven’t driven it at all in the dry so far this weekend.”
It’s this limited track time that makes learning the ‘Ring so difficult, and makes experience so valuable on a circuit that rapidly evolves, not only over a weekend, but also through the course of a year.
“Every time you go through a sector, or a bunch of corners, you realise what you can do better, but you’re not going to see that again for over eight minutes,” the Briton states.
“It takes a bit of time just to try and chip away and get better. And that’s why experience here, it counts for a lot, because they’re a bit more in tune with exactly what to do line-wise, especially if it’s wet. It’s interesting, but still, I’m absolutely loving it.”
Outside of the Nordschleife, and all that makes the Nürburgring 24 Hours unique, the other key difference for Hill this weekend is that he’s racing a Porsche, as opposed to his regular ride, a Ferrari 296.
“Considering they’re both GT3 cars, they’re completely different,” Hill says, before selecting the Porsche as his favourite of the two.
“The Porsche, I would say on the chassis side, is quite a lot better. I like being in a naturally aspirated car again and not having that turbo lag we get in the Ferrari.
“There are lots of pluses to the Porsche: It’s very nimble, I think it’s definitely one of the cars to have around here, the high-speed balance is good.
“The Ferrari, it’s a lot more stable at high speed, compared to the Porsche, but overall I prefer the Porsche to drive. It’s definitely more my type of car. I enjoy driving it, and I adapted to it well. Hopefully I just just need a few more laps in the dry, and hopefully we’ll get up to pace.”
Partly due to his lack of dry running, the 32-year-old isn’t fazed by the prospect of the Nürburgring’s traditional weather setting in for the race, with Hill confident about his abilities in the wet.
“I’ve always gotten on well driving in the dark, so I’m happy to do more of the night time, dusk-type conditions, especially if it ends up being wet, because I feel pretty comfortable driving in the rain,” he says. “That sounds stupid, considering it’s around here as well, but I do enjoy it.
“Those five laps last night was really helpful to understand what the car is like in the rain. I’d never driven the Porsche in the rain, and I’d never driven around here in the rain in a racing car.
“It’s extremely different, and it is still incredibly fast, but I feel like yesterday’s session went really well, so I feel a little bit more prepared.”
The time for preparing, however, is now almost over, with only Saturday’s 60-minute warm-up left before Hill and co. embark on their quest to secure Lionspeed’s third class victory at the Nürburgring 24.
Images courtesy of BTCC and Lionspeed GP
