Latest Clio Cup graduate Josh Cook looking forward to BTCC debut

The 2014 Clio Cup runner up Josh Cook is eagerly awaiting his new challenge in the top tier of British motorsport with Power Maxed Racing.

Cook, who took the most wins of the year in the Clio Cup last season, will race the Chevrolet Cruze alongside new team-mate Dave Newsham, and the 23-year-old admits that there is still plenty of work to do ahead of the Brands Hatch season opener.

“It’s just getting used to what the new car’s like,” Cook told TouringCarTimes. “There’s a lot of work to do but that’s good. There’s a big challenge ahead of us but I’m looking forward to it. This has been such a last minute effort, to be fair to the team they’ve had three weeks to get the car ready and they’ve done it. Now we need to get our head down, start learning about it and we’ll start moving on with the season with what we’ve got planned.”

The Bristol-based driver missed out on Clio Cup glory in 2014 by 43 points, finishing behind dominant champion Mike Bushell. With only a limited amount of track time in the Cruze available to him, he has admitted that he’s glad of his previous racing experience, as he feels it gives him advantage when it comes to getting a feel of the new machinery.

“The car is clearly a lot faster than a Clio,” Cook, who will keep a presence in the Clio Cup with his own Team Cooksport, continued “It’s weird, it drives like a front-wheel-drive Ginetta, like a G55. It’s a bit of a cross between the two so I’m glad I did both G55 and Clios.”

Cook is not the only former Clio front-runner to make the transition to the BTCC paddock, with reigning champion Bushell stepping up alongside Cook. The pair join fellow Clio Cup alumni such as 2012 champion Jack Goff, 2011 runner up Aron Smith and 2010 champion Dave Newsham, while Andrew Jordan and Sam Tordoff also took victories in the one-make series en route to their BTCC successes.