Josh Cook pleased with podium recovery

Josh Cook admitted he was pleased to recover to a podium position after a mixed start to his BTCC title challenge at Donington Park.

The BTC Racing driver had looked well placed to challenge for the top positions in race one after qualifying in the top eight only to be tipped into a spin at McLeans on the opening lap – leaving him at the back of the field.

Recovering to 13th by the finish, Cook then fought his way into the top ten in race two and was able to benefit from the reverse grid to line up on the second row of the grid for the weekend finale.

A solid third place behind Ash Sutton and Chris Smiley allowed Cook to salvage silverware from the weekend – leaving him tenth in the early standings.

“Being taken out in race one put us on the back foot for the rest of the weekend,” he said. “Without the option tyre, it makes it quite difficult to come through the field. You no longer have a race where you have an advantage. Not the ideal start to the weekend, but we managed to claw our back up to get into the reverse grid draw for race three.

“We faced a lot of challenges we didn’t expect. We struggled with temperature management, so we just had to make sure that we brought the car home and played the long game. We had the pace to challenge for higher up I think, and in clearer air, we would have pushed harder. I’m pleased with how it went overall. It’s a solid set of results to start the season and puts us in a good place heading to Brands Hatch.”

Team-mate Tom Chilton meanwhile endured a more difficult race day on his debut at the wheel of the Honda Civic Type R, with a best finish of tenth from the opening three rounds.

“Out of all the cars on the grid, I was the fastest out of the box in free practice,” he said, “but then your whole weekend hinges on a strong qualifying result. We got caught in traffic, then a red flag, and then it rained so I never got to set a fast lap. Starting from 16th it’s always going to be hard work. I moved forward in race one and we were on for a top-six finish in race two before I got pushed out wide which would have been perfect for the reverse grid.

“I’ve come away with points in all three races on my first weekend with the team, the first weekend in the Honda, and with my new engineer. I’ve learned an awful lot about the car. I’m feeling confident that I’ve got to grips with the Type R and where we’re going to pick up from at Brands Hatch next weekend.”