BTC Racing’s Josh Cook says he is surprised that more drivers didn’t opt for slicks in the mixed conditions for the opening British Touring Car Championship race of 2019, as he believes “it wasn’t a big gamble.”
Cook, who qualified 10th for the first race, was the first runner to choose slicks as conditions looked to be worsening on the grid.
He held station at the start and waited for the pace to come back to him, setting the fastest lap on the sixth tour before progressing quickly up the order and passing Ash Sutton for the lead at the end of lap nine.
He told TouringCars.Net he was confident the race would to come back to him after a slow start, and believes slick tyres weren’t ‘a big gamble’ so he was surprised more drivers didn’t make the same decision.
“It was always going to be a long distance race really. I knew that we could get enough temperature in the tyres on the first few laps,” explained Cook.
“From that point onwards, it was just a case of if the rain came, and if it did how much temperature I had and how long I could keep it in the tyres for.
“Luckily we had plenty of temperature in it, it dried out a little bit, we made some decent progress and then when it started to rain at the end, luckily, I had a nice gap and everybody’s wets were hanging at that point!
“So we were in a good place – there’s no magic to it – it was just a good decision at the right time, and I’m surprised there weren’t more that made that choice because for me it wasn’t a big gamble.”
Once Cook gained the lead, he built a gap of around eight seconds to Jake Hill before encountering traffic, and noted patience was key to securing the victory.
“Even getting off the line the car was good, we kept our positions, nothing happened. Some of the other guys on slicks were rustling a little bit behind and I just wanted to keep out of it and make sure nothing stupid happened,” he said.
“And credit to all of the front guys, they were driver their own race and they left me enough room to pop by and they lost barely any time themselves.
“That’s where the experience comes in with those guys and it was a nice race at that point for sure. Coming around to the backmarkers was a little bit more difficult – I don’t know if they weren’t aware that the leader was lapping, or whether they didn’t see blue flags or what – but luckily I kept out of trouble.”
In the closing laps Cook had to navigate heavy traffic with cars a lap down on worn wet tyres, and even made contact with Motorbase’s Nic Hamilton on the entry to Druids, but both cars survived the skirmish.
“I think he darted from one side of the circuit to the other to go for an overtake, he wasn’t really using his mirrors,” said Cook.
“But I get that they’re all driving their own race, but I was leading the race and I was definitely trying to keep a gap to the guys behind.
“Because if I’d just sat behind them for a couple of corners for a lap or two, the next thing you know the gap I had would be gone. So I had to make progress and keep out of trouble and the contact probably looked a bit worse on the outside than it was on the inside.
“It was very, very small for me. I just made sure I removed my car from the situation. He still had a little trip down the inside, but like I say I was just trying to keep out of trouble.”