BTC Racing’s Josh Cook Back to Winning Form at Thruxton

BTC Racing was able to celebrate a third win of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season after another strong weekend on track at Thruxton.

A solid performance in qualifying saw both Honda Civic Type Rs qualify inside the top ten, with Josh securing fifth place ahead of Chris in ninth – leaving both well placed going into race day.

Race 1

When the lights went out, Josh was able to maintain his position through the opening lap and then moved up into fourth at the end of the second lap when Jason Plato was forced to serve a drive-through penalty. From there the Bath-based racer held his place through to the finish for a solid points score.

Right in the heat of the midfield battle, Chris was able to climb up into eighth place by the end of the third lap but would lose out to the charging pair of Matt Neal and Ash Sutton in the final two laps to end the race in P10.

Race 2

Race two would prove to be one to remember for Josh at his local circuit as he repeated his victory from the third round of the campaign back in May.

Getting ahead of Dan Cammish at the start, Cook then put pressure on Sam Tordoff and Adam Morgan ahead before passing both in a fine move heading into the final chicane on lap four. Josh was then able to ease away from Morgan behind to secure his third victory of the campaign.

For Chris however there was disappointment after mid-race contact from the Vauxhall of Jason Plato at the complex resulted in a spin that dropped him down outside the points, with the Northern Irishman crossing the line in an unrepresentative 21^st place.

Race 3

Despite carrying maximum ballast on his car into race three, Josh ended the weekend with a strong sixth place finish, running well inside the top eight throughout and surviving a heavy downpour in the closing stages that made track conditions treacherous.

“Consistent points was the aim this weekend so to come away from Thruxton with three top six finishes and a third win of the year is really pleasing,” Josh told the team.

“We had a strategy, and credit to the team for the hard work they have put in again that has helped us to pull together some more strong results. Even though I think we could have qualified higher, fourth was a solid start to race day and the win in race two was great; particularly with the move I had to make for the lead.”

With the incident in race two having left Chris on the back foot, he headed into the final race of the weekend hoping to fight forwards into the points but the closely-matched nature of the pack meant he had to settle for 17^th place at the finish.

“It’s been a frustrating weekend and one that leaves me feeling what might have been, he said after the race. “We did a solid job in qualifying to secure a place in the top ten for the opening race and tenth was a decent enough start as it was points on the board and left us well placed for races two and three.

“Unfortunately, race two ended my chances of adding to that which is a shame because we had a good car and the fact that the FK8 has won two races shows we could have come away from here with three solid results.”

At the end of the weekend, Josh now sits 4th in the overall standings and leads the Independents’ title race, with Chris sitting 17^th overall and 8th amongst the Independents.

BTC Racing is currently 4th in the Teams’ Championship and has reclaimed top spot in the Independent Teams’ Championship.

Photo c/o BTC Racing