Josh Cook ‘pleased’ to pull out qualifying lap when it counted

Josh Cook expressed relief at posting  fast Q2 lap ‘when it counted’ as the Speedworks Motorsport driver qualified in third for the opening British Touring Car Championship race at Silverstone.

Having been fastest in his first qualifying group in the dry, Cook continued on slick tyres at the start of Q2, only to find that the circuit was becoming too wet too quickly for him to be able to post a competitive lap.

Pitting for wet tyres and changes to his car, Cook was in 12^th and last in Q2 with thirty seconds to go before he posted a time good enough for fourth and, crucially, progression into the ‘Quick Six’ Q3 session.

Although Cook only lapped quick enough for fifth in Q3, with the exclusion of the two Power Maxed Racing cars ahead, he will start third for the opener – a result the Bath racer is pleased with.

“I’m pleased with the job that we did as a team in that session,” Cook told TouringCars.Net. “Q1 was good; the car had some good pace in the dry.

“In Q2 it then started raining and we went out on warmish slicks from Q1 to try and get a banker lap in, but it was too late, and the rain was coming down too quickly.

“We made the call to come in and swap to wets and it was looking like we were too late, but the first flying lap on wets was a really, really good lap and I managed to get myself up into a good position to get through to Q3.

“We spent a lot of time making sure that the legalities were correct – we did that after Q2 as well just to double check everything was fine. The balance wasn’t quite there, to be honest. Maybe if we’d spent a bit more time doing a setup change to help it might have been better, but the important thing is that we made it through, were competitive, and passed all the legality checks.

“I’m pleased with the job that we did, pleased with the lap that I had to do when it counted in Q2 to get through, and I think we can race from where we are.”

Cook admits that, like most drivers in the field, he’d rather it was dry on Sunday, but will focus on the data gained in the latter part of qualifying to aid his race setup.

“I’d rather it was dry because we’ve got a lot more experience with this car in the dry. I’ve actually only driven it in the wet a couple of times.

“We’ll dig into what we learned in Q2 and Q3 to work out what direction we need to go in.#

“Of course, it’s the same for everybody. We know that some guys, such as the Vauxhalls and Jake [Hill] in the BMW, generally go well in the wet.

“But we can only concentrate on our bits, do the best job we can and hopefully we’re fighting for the podiums and more.

“This circuit is particularly difficult because there’s quite a lot of grip in the wet on slicks, there’s not that many corners, so the crossover isn’t quite as easy to pinpoint as it is at other circuits.

“If there’s any doubt you want to be on the wet because it doesn’t go off badly.

“I think it’s great for spectators. It’s a nightmare for teams and drivers but it’s great to watch.”