Josh Cook: “It’s going to be a battle of brainpower”

Josh Cook believes this weekend’s British Touring Car Championship meeting at Snetterton will be a battle of brainpower and wits above anything else in the fight for supremacy.

The Speedworks Motorsport driver heads to the Norfolk venue off the back of claiming a fine podium at Brands Hatch and the Toyota Corolla GR Sport driver is keen to add to his trophy collection as the series takes on the longest circuit on the calendar.

Cook currently sits fifth in the Drivers’ Championship and will go to Snetterton with a generous allowance of hybrid deployment compared to his rivals and a car that has a proven track record of podiums too.

However, with this being the first event of the season that drivers will be forced to run all three Goodyear tyres – soft, hard and medium, the 32-year-old believes strategy will be key in the pursuit of success.

“We’ve had a strong start to the season in the LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ Corolla, and the second-place finish at Brands Hatch shows that everything is really beginning to gel now,” said Cook.

“It always takes a little bit of time to settle into a new team and car and get used to different ways of working, but things are increasingly coming together and it was fantastic to reward everybody with a trophy for all of their efforts – particularly at the end of such an enjoyable and hard-fought race.

“The goal for Snetterton has to be more of the same. We know the Toyota is quick there from previous years; with such a varied mix of corners, you really need a good chassis underneath you to be competitive – and thankfully, that’s exactly what we have! It’s also a circuit that I think plays to my strengths as a driver, and I usually go well there.

“There’s no question that it’s going to be a bit of a strategic weekend in terms of assessing which tyre to use when, and a battle of brainpower and wits as much as anything else, but that’s a challenge we are relishing. I’m really looking forward to it!”