Photo: PSP Images

Josh Cook: “It’s really gutting for the team”

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Triple Eight Racing’s Josh Cook said the team’s double disqualification in race one at Silverstone was “gutting” for his mechanics, after they burned the midnight oil to replace his engine and gearbox to allow him to compete.

Cook finished a strong second to team-mate Ash Sutton in the opening encounter before both were kicked out of the results for a technical infringement relating to their rear wings.

It meant a struggle from the back of the grid with 66kg of ballast in race two, and a fighting seventh without the weight on board in the finale.

Triple Eight’s appeal relates to Cook’s MG 6 only, meaning if it is successful he would inherit the win from Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram.

“We’ve been fast all weekend. The car was really good in qualifying – we left a little bit on the table and didn’t quite get on the front row with Ash,” said Cook to TouringCarTimes. “Race one we showed the true pace of the car but were disqualified for a technical infringement, which we’ve appealed.

“It’s more gutting for the team. I got to be out there and race on track. The guys were there until the early hours changing my engine and gearbox and the amount of effort they put in was massive.

“To come home with a one-two for the team and fastest lap showed what we are made of. So it’s really gutting for the guys.”

Following the disappointment of the first race, the remainder of the day proved to be a tough one for Cook and left him with mixed emotions at its end.

“The way the rule works [for race two] is we had to run the soft tyre and the ballast, so I had 66kg starting from the back of the grid and it was a case of damage limitation.

“I managed to bring it home in 17th and then it was on to race three. I was just attacking and trying to get through the traffic. I was chuffed we could bring it home in seventh, but it’s slightly hollow because we could have had a lot more from this weekend if the results from race one stuck and we’d been allowed to start from the front row in race two.”