Josh Cook says that his fourth-place finish in the second British Touring Car Championship race at Donington Park was in part down to him being able to capitalise on the mistakes of those drivers ahead of him.
Cook came through the field from tenth on the grid to take fourth at the chequered flag, and in the process scored the best-ever result for Stewart Lines’ Maximum Motorsport outfit.
The 25-year-old put his drive through the field down to mistakes ahead of him – in particular benefitting when Rob Austin went off into the gravel and Gordon Shedden ran wide at Coppice.
“It was a tough first few laps, but I managed to capitalise on a couple of people making some mistakes,” said Cook, who was up to fifth by lap four, to TouringCars.Net. “The car was good from the word go and we really pushed hard.
“In the end we didn’t have quite enough pace to go for a podium. By the time we’d cleared Aiden [Moffat], the guys were off in the distance and there wasn’t really a lot we could do.
“We’ve had a good weekend so far – it’s a shame that we don’t quite have the same pace as some of the other cars up the hill, but overall on the lap the car is good. It’s certainly got good race pace and it’s very nimble, very agile and set-up well.
“The team are doing everything they can to give me the best car. Finishing fourth is great, but it’s perhaps just the worst place to finish because it’s one step off the podium.”
Cook also put part of his performance down to the effort that the team have put into the Ford Focus during the off-season, which now sees the car featuring both the latest engine and the new RML spec components.
“The team have spent a lot of time and money on the car over the winter and it’s been stripped back to its shell. It was completely [stripped] back and it’s lighter and been strengthened.
“It’s got a lot of new panels on it, obviously the new RML stuff and the new Mountune engine, and it’s the same spec as the Motorbase cars, and I think we’re showing that with the results that we’re getting.”
The revised timetable will see the pitlane open for race three at 17:18 BST.