Josh Cook pleased with ‘rewarding’ run to pole

Josh Cook admitted it was ‘rewarding’ to snare pole for the third meeting of the BTCC season at Thruxton after mid-session changes to his BTC Racing Honda paid dividends.

Cook had led the way during the two practice sessions by virtue of his quickest time in FP1 and went into the session amongst the expected contenders for pole.

Having lost an early lap to track limits, Cook looked set to miss out on pole after his first two runs in the session but changes to the set-up of the Civic Type R would pay off when he was able to put in a quick time good enough to steal pole from under the nose of Jake Hill.

It marked the first time this season that a car other than the BMW 330e M Sport has qualified on pole.

“FP1 and FP2 were good for us but the balance of the car changed a bit for qualifying, which made it a bit tough at the start,” Cook reflected. “We made some changes mid-session, so to then get pole is really rewarding.

“Of course we care about Sunday and what happens in the races, but we’ve had a good Saturday to kick it off.”

Should Cook convert pole into victory in race one, he will become the most successful driver in series history when it comes to Thruxton wins, although he admitted he was focused more on the longer game.

“Of course it would be nice to get the record, and if I’m able to go out there and win tomorrow then I will,” he said. “However, the focus is on the championship, and it’s important that we maximise the points available.”