BTCC 2022: Cook double means new championship leader
Josh Cook triumphed twice at Thruxton
Cook’s eight and ninth wins at Thruxton mean he’s the most successful driver ever at the circuit
Josh Cook claimed another double in the latest BTCC action, following up his twin success at Brands Hatch earlier in the month. It means the Honda Civic Type R racer is now the most successful BTCC driver ever at Thruxton and also ensures he jumps to the top of the championship, with a 23-point lead.
Cook couldn’t manage the triple, though, as the final race of the weekend was won by Adam Morgan, the BMW driver earning victory in the same weekend as his 300th start in the BTCC.
Ash Sutton grabbed a triple set of podiums to keep his title challenge quietly alive - the Ford Focus driver has yet to win a round after switching to the front-wheel drive car for 2022, but consistency is paying off as he lies second in the standings.
*Cook delivers record-breaking victory*
Poleman Cook didn’t get the cleanest of getaways, but managed to find his way past the faster starting BMW 3 Series of Jake Hill at the first chicane and from there rarely looked troubled. His eighth win ensures he’s the most successful driver at Thruxton in the history of the BTCC.
The action was more focused on the following pack, as Sutton survived 16 laps at the head of a gaggle of cars to finish third. Dan Rowbottom was the main challenger and briefly managed to get past, but when Sutton retook the spot, he dragged Colin Turkington through with him. Sutton ended up third, followed by Turkington and Rowbottom, all of them covered by under 1.5 seconds.
*Cook’s ‘move of the season’*
We might only be three weekends into the 2022 championship, but Cook’s move around the outside of Hill at Club (having again lost out at the start) was labelled the ‘move of the season so far’ by ITV commentator and former BTCC champion Tim Harvey.
Afterwards, Cook explained how he planned the overtake: “I messed up the start quite badly, so I needed to try and recover from that. Jake [Hill] got a really good first lap, normally the rear-wheel drive cars struggle a little bit through the high-speed stuff in the first part of the race but he was just switched on straight away.
“There was just one opportunity – I think it was Jake last year who pulled that move on [Tom] Oliphant – as I was coming round the back straight it was in my mind and I thought, ‘I’m going to give that a pop’ and luckily I just got it. Jake gave me just enough room, it would have been easy for him to run me out, but he gave me just enough racing room and I gladly pulled it off and then he just hunted me round for the whole race.”
*Adam Morgan hangs on*
Having notched up his record 300th start earlier in the day, Morgan blasted past pole sitter Jason Plato at the start to lead a four-car train throughout most of the race.
Turkington and Sutton also got past Plato at the start, but the veteran was back in the hunt for a podium by mid-distance, the quartet pulling clear of the chasing pack. Sadly, a slight scrape with Sutton pushed him out of contention before an accident at Church - the fastest corner in the country - meant that Plato’s weekend was over.
Morgan, Turkington and Sutton ran in that order to the finish, with just over a second separating all three at the flag.