BTC Racing’s Josh Cook says he is hoping to bounce back in today’s trio of British Touring Car Championship races at Oulton Park after a powertrain issue stumped his efforts in qualifying yesterday.
Cook, who currently sits second in the Drivers’ standings, could only manage 22nd on the grid for race one after despite putting in what he described as “some pretty good laps.”
He told TouringCars.Net he is hopeful of recovering strong points on race day at the Cheshire circuit to maintain his strong championship position.
“Chassis-wise the car was good, we were happy with it, it handled well. We put in some pretty good laps from my perspective in qualifying but we did struggle with a powertrain issue,” said Cook.
“The guys were here very late last night swapping some bits over, it’s the start of a new day but obviously 22nd isn’t ideal.
“It’s one of the worst circuits to carry weight, I think the BMW is certainly an exception, they’ve definitely got an upper hand in general.
“We have to work hard to make sure we bag as many points as we can and hope they get some bad luck. It wasn’t ideal but I’m happy with everything we did.”
With an oil leak on team-mate Chris Smiley’s Honda Civic after qualifying, both sets of mechanics at BTC Racing were forced to undertake the lengthy repairs overnight.
Cook believes the issue is sorted but admitted he won’t know for certain until the green flag lap. Despite this, he is hopeful of rewarding the team’s hard work with a “damage limitation” weekend.
“We’ve got a good idea but of course until you run it and get it out on circuit you don’t really know.
“Both sets of mechanics on both cars were here very late last night, Chris had an oil leak issue they had to address and it was a long fix.
“It’s the hardest place to carry weight, and probably the hardest to overtake. Race one is going to be tough, it’s a long day we’re just going to be looking at race two and race three.
“We just need some points, it’s going to be damage limitation. Everybody in this season has bad weekends, we’ve had a podium every race weekend so far – this one looks like it could be a little more difficult but we’re still going to come out fighting.”
After enjoying a race win at the season-opener at Brands Hatch, Cook has remained at the sharp end in the championship despite enduring difficult weekends, and hopes today will bring another solid points haul.
“Often things don’t go smoothly, but it’s actually fairly easy to win when you’ve got a quick car and you’ve got the pace and things just got to plan,” explained Cook.
“But when things aren’t going well it shows how strong the team is behind you. We’ve seen what happens when we’re not doing well and how we bounce back from that.
“This weekend is hopefully going to be no different, we’re aiming for a podium in race three, that’s the plan.”