Josh Cook cruises to victory in Thruxton opener
Josh Cook has become the ninth different winner of the British Touring Car Championship season after claiming a commanding lights-to-flag victory in the opening race of the day at Thruxton.
Starting from pole position, the Speedworks Motorsport driver made a textbook start and with clear ahead of him, he cruised to a record-extending 11th win around the high-speed Hampshire circuit.
Championship leader Ash Sutton finished less than a second behind the Toyota Corolla driver while Dan Rowbottom took the chequered flag in third to claim a first-ever podium finish for Plato Racing.
The race began in frantic fashion with title rivals Sutton and Tom Ingram spending much of the opening lap side-by-side. Leaning on each other through the back section of the track, Sutton would eventually find a way past, before Ingram endured his own travails.
Contesting the same piece of tarmac through Goodwood and Village, Ingram bounced onto the grass and lost time, which in-turn saw him drop towards the rear of the top ten.
While Cook, Sutton and Rowbottom occupied the top three positions, Senna Proctor – who is replacing Sam Osborne for this weekend – claimed a well-deserved fourth while Ingram fought back to complete the top five.
The second Plato Racing Mercedes of Adam Morgan was next up after he got the better of Dan Cammish at mid-distance; the pair having been bumper-to-bumper for a number of laps.
Power Maxed Racing’s Mikey Doble and Restart Racing’s James Dorlin enjoyed relatively trouble-free drives, with Doble snaring eighth and honours in the Independents’ category.
Completing the top ten was the second Restart Racing Hyundai of Chris Smiley, who came out on top of an almighty battle that included the likes of Aron Taylor-Smith, Daryl De Leon, Tom Chilton and Aiden Moffat.
