British Touring Car Championship points leader Josh Cook was pleased with a podium finish after a “damage limitations” weekend.
The BTC Racing driver struggled throughout the weekend with a lack of straight line speed.
Cook finished eighth and ninth in the first two races of the weekend at Oulton Park, having to recover from a difficult qualifying session. He came through to take his sixth podium of the season in race three.
“I think we didn’t have an overly strong car today,” he said. “It seems a bit of damage limitations, so just really pleased that I managed to get on the podium.
“We knew that Ricky [Collard] had a penalty which made it a little bit easier for me. It meant I didn’t have to push too hard and take any risks.
“So I’m happy with the result.”
Cook spent most of the race P4 on track, battling with Collard. Collard had received a five second time penalty early after a false start, which dropped him down the order after the chequered flag.
The BTC Racing team has work to do before the next round of the season at Croft, with the power train a potential issue for the squad.
“The chassis is really good, a nice balance,” Cook explained. “We’re just struggling with straight-line speed. So a lot of head scratching is going on.
“Other than that, we’re happy with the package that we’ve got. It’s just the powertrain we’re struggling with.
“There’s a lot of data to go through, a lot of debriefs. It’s been a really tough weekend, both on the circuit and back in the garages for us trying to find out where our pace has gone.
“At least we get time to reset and refocus for Croft.”