Jake Hill suffered a frustrating weekend in the British Touring Car Championship at Thruxton.

Hill, from Platts Heath, was hit by monsoon-like conditions in Saturday’s qualifying at the Hampshire circuit.

The defending champion - a double-winner at the venue last year - eventually put his BMW 330i M Sport on the fourth row, finishing eighth.

Hill, of West Surrey Racing, battled to sixth and fifth-placed finishes in races one and two.

Taking the lead in the finale from the second row of the partially-reversed grid, he was denied a strong result when contact from another car pushed him off the track and caused an unplanned pitstop to remove debris from his BMW’s radiator.

He eventually took 18th place.

Hill is fifth in the drivers’ standings on 114 points after round four of 10, 67 points behind championship leader Ash Sutton.

The next round takes place at Oulton Park on June 21-22, the scene of one of Hill’s finest victories last year en route to claiming his maiden BTCC title.

“We’ve been all aboard the struggle bus this weekend,” said Hill.

“The BMW was okay in all three races, but it’s been hard to race against some of the other cars due to the straightline speed deficit we have to them.

“The chassis felt good in the high-speed sections, but on the straights it was tough. I can’t wait for Oulton Park.”