Josh Cook ‘Chuffed To Bits’ after scoring maiden BTCC win

Josh Cook was left chuffed to bits after winning his first Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race in the opening encounter at Donington Park.

Following on from clinching pole position yesterday, the Power Maxed Racing driver converted his front row start into a commanding lead, which ultimately led to victory.

Cook held off an early challenge from the BTC Norlin Racing Honda of Chris Smiley before going on to manage the gap between himself and the chasing Dan Cammish, who had Aiden Moffat in tow too.

Piloting his Vauxhall Astra to the chequered flag, Cook became the 19th different driver on the grid to have now won a race in the series and it is the second for Power Maxed Racing this season.

“I’m chuffed to bits, I’m so pleased for the team,” Cook told BTCC Crazy. “It is so much easier driving at the front rather than driving through the field – I quite prefer it.

“On the green flag lap I knew that the clutch wasn’t quite right so I was expecting to have not the best of starts. Chris gave me plenty of racing room but and once I was in front it was about getting my head down and building a gap.

“I was pushing in the right places and making sure that those behind me weren’t catching.

“It is a good start to the day but I am already focused on races two and three – I’ll celebrate properly when it is all over this afternoon.”

Looking ahead to race two, Cook added: “We are now taking on the hard tyre and 75kgs of success ballast so it is going to be damage limitation. We will see what we can achieve.”