Jake Hill says he could not turn down an “amazing opportunity” to compete in international sportscars next season after bidding farewell to the British Touring Car Championship.

The 2024 champion, from Platts Heath, is preparing to race GT3 machinery on the global stage after rounding out his final tin-top season with a podium finish at Brands Hatch on Sunday.

The details of Hill’s next campaign are yet to be revealed but an announcement is expected to be made in the coming weeks, and is set to include more than one GT3 programme.

The 31-year-old announced his departure from the BTCC in the run-up to the finale at the West Kingsdown circuit - 12 years after making his debut in the category.

He says his planned sportscar schedule will not include a meeting at Brands Hatch next year, but says he will continue to race at his home track in historic events.

“The only UK stuff I'll be doing is historic racing, but, professionally, it'll be all abroad, and I’ll be releasing the details in due course,” Hill said.

“I'll still live 25 minutes away from Brands, and it'll always be my home track.

“But I've got an amazing opportunity to go and do some really cool stuff abroad and I have to take it while I can. It’s something we’ve got to do.”

Hill’s bid to finish third in the BTCC standings was derailed in the opening race when contact with Adam Morgan at Graham Hill Bend on lap one caused a front-left puncture.

But the BMW 330i M Sport racer climbed from 19th to seventh in the second encounter and ended the weekend on the podium in race three, finishing third.

“A win would have been a nice way to end it, but it was still a decent weekend,” Hill said.

“We didn’t quite have the top speed, and got really unlucky in race one.

“I think had the day gone smoothly, we probably would have stuck the soft tyre on for race two to try and win that one instead, but we still had a good day.”

Hill, who was forced to miss the Croft event in August due to illness, says it is “hard to sum up” how he feels about leaving the championship.

He watched his former Ginetta rival Tom Ingram score his second title on Sunday, beating four-time champion Ash Sutton by 34 points.

“This paddock has been my life,” Hill said.

“I've dedicated so much time and everything to touring car racing and we managed to conquer it in 2024 - that was by far one of the best years of my life.

“The end of this year has been much stronger than the start, but unfortunately we just weren't able to take it to Tom and Ash for one reason or another.”

Hill, who finished 12 points shy of third-placed Dan Cammish, has driven a Ferrari 296 GT3 for Era Motorsport in the Creventic-backed 24H Series this season alongside his BTCC commitments.

His move away from touring cars means he will no longer be managed by former Formula 1 driver Mark Blundell, whose MB Motorsport team ran Hill to the 2024 title in partnership with Dick Bennetts’ West Surrey Racing.

Bennetts says his squad has now “got to find a replacement for Jake”.

“We’ll miss him,” the Kiwi said.

“In his four years with us, he’s been third, third, first and fourth, so it’s been pretty good.

“From what I gather, he’s with a good team in sportscars and he has shown he can jump into all sorts of cars and be quick.”

Bennetts says his team are “working hard” on their own sportscar programme, which is due to begin in January with Porsche machinery.

And he added there will be “lots of discussions” in the next few weeks about the squad’s touring car plans for 2026.

“We need to get all the sponsorship finalised for BTCC for next year,” he said.

“At the moment we’re finding the drivers with the budgets and the talent. The same old problem.”

Hill, who has 23 BTCC race wins to his name, saw Cammish, Ingram and Josh Cook triumph in the three events on Sunday.

The BTCC will return to Brands Hatch on May 9-10 2026, before the season finale on October 10-11.