BTCC Brands Hatch: BTC Racing's Cook storms to Race 1 win

The early stages of the race featured a thrilling battle between BMW 330e M Sport team-mates Colin Turkington and Jake Hill before the pair dropped back later on as their wet weather tyres started to struggle, enabling Cook to pounce.

Polesitter Turkington maintained the lead at the start but was soon under attack from local driver Hill, who made repeated attempts to grab the lead around the outside at Druids.

Cook, meanwhile, briefly grabbed third on the opening lap before sliding wide at Surtees and dropping back behind the third of the WSR BMWs of Stephen Jelley.

Cook regained the spot on the inside at Druids on lap seven of 24 before then quickly hunting down the lead pair.

Four laps later, he made a sensational dive down the inside of Hill at Paddock Hill Bend, the BMW driver doing his best to defend but was unable to keep the charging Cook at bay.

It was then a repeat move on Turkington that netted him the lead, which he maintained to the flag.

"We like these conditions and it was a mega job by the team," said Cook.

"I was secretly happy but also terrified [by the rain] because of the pressure. The trip across the grass was a rookie error - I was looking down at my dash and missed the corner.

"I had the fear factor of being told off when I got back to the garage, so I got my head down!"

Josh Cook, Rich Energy BTC Racing Honda Civic Type R

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

It was championship leader Tom Ingram's Hyundai i30 N that ended as Cook's closest challenger, the Excelr8 driver picking his way through from sixth on the grid, while Dan Cammish grabbed a podium in his Ford Focus - profiting from Hill running wide at Paddock Hill Bend with three laps to go.

Hill therefore had to settle for fourth, while Turkington faded to fifth by the finish ahead of the Ciceley BMW of Adam Morgan.

Only two drivers rolled the dice at the start and opted for slick tyres, with Rory Butcher - who started ninth - being the highest placed to do so.

It looked to have backfired when he spun on the Cooper Straight on the green-flag lap and then fell to the back of the pack in the early stages, only ahead of fellow slick-starter Will Powell.

But Butcher's pace came alive in the second half of the race and the Toyota Corolla surged up the order.
He was sixth with a lap to go and challenging for a brilliant fourth when he ran wide at Clearways and had to settle for seventh.

Gordon Shedden's Honda was eighth - but could face a penalty as his Team Dynamics mechanics were still working on his car as the grid was cleared - while Ash Sutton's Focus and Dan Rowbottom's Civic rounded out the top 10.

BTCC Brands Hatch Race 1 results - 24 laps

Cla	Driver	Time	Gap
1	Josh Cook	21'44.124
2	Tom Ingram	21'44.926	0.802
3	Dan Cammish	21'48.333	4.209
4	Jake Hill	21'49.161	5.037
5	Colin Turkington	21'51.815	7.691
6	Adam Morgan	21'54.244	10.120
7	Rory Butcher	21'54.972	10.848
8	Gordon Shedden	21'55.794	11.670
9	Ashley Sutton	21'56.633	12.509
10	Daniel Rowbottom	21'58.509	14.385
11	Ash Hand	21'59.158	15.034
12	Michael Crees	21'59.468	15.344
13	Tom Chilton	21'59.583	15.459
14	George Gamble	22'00.346	16.222
15	Daniel Lloyd	22'01.785	17.661
16	Bobby Thompson	22'03.788	19.664
17	Jason Plato	22'04.677	20.553
18	Jade Edwards	22'12.305	28.181
19	Jack Butel	22'13.008	28.884
20	Stephen Jelley	22'13.755	29.631
21	Aron Taylor-Smith	22'18.864	34.740
22	Aiden Moffat	22'19.883	35.759
23	Ollie Jackson	22'20.109	35.985
24	Sam Osborne	22'20.343	36.219
25	Dexter Patterson	22'20.872	36.748
26	Ricky Collard	22'25.123	40.999
27	Nicolas Hamilton	22'31.887	47.763
28	Rick Parfitt Jr.	22'32.629	48.505
29	Will Powell	22'21.102	1 Lap
View full results