Josh Cook to make MG return

Josh Cook is to make an unexpected return to the Triple Eight-run MG team following the departure of Dan Lloyd.

Lloyd and the team announced a split ahead of this weekend’s fifth round of the BTCC season at Croft after a difficult start to the 2017 campaign, with Lloyd stating that ‘consistently disappointing results’ had played a part in his decision.

Following the news, Triple Eight has moved quickly to bring in a replacement and has agreed a deal with Cook to return to the team for the remainder of the campaign.

The 25-year-old finished twelfth in the standings last year at the wheel of the MG6 GT, scoring two podium finishes in the process.

Cook had been widely expected to remain with MG again this season, but then moved to Maximum Motorsport having been unable to agree a deal.

The 58 points he has scored so far this season currently eclipses the combined total collected by Lloyd and Aron Taylor-Smith at MG through the first four meetings of the year, with the former Clio racer having finished inside the top ten six times.

“I would like to thank all those at Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport for the opportunity at the start of the season and for all of their hard work,” Cook said. “I wish them further success and now look forward to building on my 2016 season with MG in the MG6.”

Newly-appointed Triple Eight team principal Nico Ferrari said he was delighted to be able to welcome Cook back into the fold.

“It’s a shame things didn’t work out with Dan but now we’re in a great position to continue improving the MG6 and we can start to prove the capability of the car,” he said. “The team has gone through a huge shake-up in recent weeks and this is only adding to the strength of the new look Triple Eight Racing.

“Josh’s experience in the MG last year will be a huge boost for our engineering team. Aron is a superb driver and has done an exceptional job developing the car; these two will work great together, both racing but also promoting our partner, MG. Josh was excellent last year, as is Aron this year, so we’re now in a position to really capitalise on two brilliant drivers.”

Maximum Motorsport has yet to confirm who will replace Cook, with team boss Stewart Lines being one possible option.