BTC Racing’s Josh Cook was pleased to take away a solid points haul from the British Touring Car Championship weekend at Donington Park after he recovered from a non-score in race one.
Cook had led the standings coming into the weekend, and was chuffed to secure a front-row start in a mixed qualifying given he was carrying maximum ballast in his FK8 Honda Civic Type R.
Starting on the slower harder rubber for race one, Cook then suffered a puncture as a result of contact with Sam Tordoff’s AmD Tuning Honda at the final chicane, leaving him “annoyed” not to score points.
“We’ve just looked for consistent finishes, and I’m annoyed that in race one we didn’t get any points,” Cook told TouringCars.Net.
“I consider this as a bit of a bad weekend for us really because although we qualified well, race one destroyed it and suddenly the weekend can turn around.
“The race two recovery was good fun and I enjoyed that. We showed some good pace again in the car and how good it is at overtaking.
“But it’s a good points haul and I have to think of the end game obviously, but like I said, I’m always very critical of what I’ve done and how we could’ve done better.”
Despite being frustrated with how the damage in the opening contest then affected his weekend, Cook admitted he still secured a good number of points from the weekend, leaving the Leicestershire circuit just three points adrift of standings leader Ash Sutton.
“It’s a good championship points haul, which is what we needed. It’s certainly been a trying weekend but we’ve learnt a lot about the car,” he said.
“Every time we get in it we’re working more things out. Credit to the team they’re doing a really good job, but I wanted a little bit more from today, as my racer heart always does.
“I wanted a win, I thought perhaps one would have been on. But we didn’t get the rub of the green obviously in race one and didn’t get as high as I would have liked in race two.
“So I’m pleased with what we’ve come away with but I always want a bit more.”
Cook will carry 48kg of championship ballast into qualifying and race one at Thruxton on the 18/19 May, and feels he needs to find the “sweet spot” in the setup to limit the time loss from his heavy Honda.
“I’m happy with it, we tested there and I know the circuit well and what’s required from me and where we need to try to head towards with the car,” Cook said.
“If we can hit the sweet spot with that, then I’m looking forward to it.”