One Motorsport’s Josh Cook says it ‘almost feels like the first day of term all over again’ as he heads to Croft this weekend for the resumption of the British Touring Car Championship season.
After a slow start to the BTCC season, in which Cook failed to finish on the podium in the opening three events, things improved in the two most recent rounds.
At Thruxton, Cook was twice on the podium, whilst in the last round at Oulton Park, the 32-year-old scored a trio of top seven finishes.
As a result, Cook has moved up to sixth overall in the drivers’ championship, although he is now 93 points from the series lead, whilst he leads the way in the Independents’ championship, having scored seven class wins and five seconds out of 15 races so far.
But for Cook, he admits that class victories aren’t his goal, as he targets his first outright victory of the season. Indeed, last year, Cook was second only to eventual champion Tom Ingram in terms of overall victories, with five to his name.
“Coming off the back of a long mid-season hiatus, I am raring to get going,” said Cook, who won twice at Croft in 2020 with the team. “It almost feels like the first day of term all over again.
“We were gaining some real momentum just before the break. We had a couple of overall podium finishes as we are understanding more and more about the Honda Civic Type R.
“The gap between the rounds has given the team and myself a chance to have a breath and look through the areas where we think we can improve.
“It is crucial that we do this work, because nothing stands still in the BTCC for very long. We have turned the spotlight on every area of the car and my performance too and we will get a chance to put all that progress into practice this weekend.
“While I am delighted to be leading the Independents Trophy points at this stage, my ambition doesn’t stop there. For me, it is all about overall wins and I want lots of them…”
Team Principal Danny Buxton pointed to the strong form that Honda has had at the circuit in the past – with 14 wins for Team Dynamics-built cars since 2005.
“There is certainly plenty to look forward too over the next five meetings, and we are going to Croft, which is a circuit which has traditionally been good for the Honda Civic FK8,” said Buxton.
“It is a demanding track but the challenges make it a really rewarding place when you find the sweet spot with the cars.
“Josh and Aiden [Moffat] will both be aiming to continue the upward momentum we had shortly before the six-week break and having Jade [Edwards] back in the team has been a real pleasure already. She has fitted right back in and has already been working well with the team.
“We are going to Croft with a great shot at some silverware and that will set us up for the remainder of the season. We can’t wait to get going again.”