Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

BTCC Brands Hatch: Cook takes spectacular win after slicks gamble

Josh Cook earned a spectacular victory at Brands Hatch in the opening race of the 2019 British Touring Car Championship season, gambling on slick tyres to win from 10th

The BTC Racing driver's decision to start the race on dry tyres paid off as he won by 2.7 seconds ahead of fellow slick runner Jake Hill.

Fog over the circuit meant the race start was slightly delayed, and the top nine cars decided to switch to wet tyres ahead of the start.

Polesitter Ashley Sutton enjoyed a strong launch in his rear-wheel-drive Subaru Levorg GT and maintained position into Paddock Hill Bend.

Jason Plato, starting second, was slow away and pulled to the inside to defend from the BMW 330i M Sport of Colin Turkington.

That squeeze allowed the fast-starting Andrew Jordan to sweep around the outside of Plato and team-mate Turkington for second as Sutton stretched a 0.8s lead at the end of the first lap.

Plato's fortunes took further blows as the third BMW of Tom Oliphant relegated him to fifth before he was slapped with a drivethrough penalty for overshooting his grid box.

As a clear dry line emerged, Cook began carving his way through the field.

His ninth lap was packed with progress as he dived up the inside of Oliphant for fourth at Paddock Hill Bend and then passed Turkington under braking into the Druids Hairpin.

He also got by the final BMW of Jordan going into Surtees before snatching the lead off Sutton on the start/finish straight as the front runners all struggled on their wet rubber.

Hill's decision to stick with slicks for the start meant he followed Cook's progress. But by the time he dispatched of Sutton for second, Cook was 7.9s to the good.

That gap closed to just 2.7s at the chequered flag of the 24-lap race as Cook had to navigate lapped traffic.

He survived a brief scare into Druids towards the closing when he was hit by Nic Hamilton.

The also rain returned at the end, which allowed the wet-shod drivers to claw back time.

Cook remained clear for the win, however, finishing ahead of Hill and Motorbase driver Tom Chilton, who surpasses 1500 BTCC career points after climbing from 13th.

Aidan Moffat enjoyed a rise from 23rd to fourth in his Mercedes A-Class - another driver benefitting from slick grip.

Adam Morgan was fifth followed by Bobby Thompson and Stephen Jelley, who went from last to seventh in the challenging conditions, having been excluded from qualifying for failing a ride height check.

Matt Neal headed polesitter Sutton and Rory Butcher at the tail end of the top 10.

Ingram kicked off the Toyota Corolla's time in the BTCC with 13th ahead of an impressive debut for ex-Formula 1 driver Mark Blundell.

He finished 14th ahead of a difficult race for the BMWs - with Jordan falling to 15th, Turkington 19th and Oliphant an eventual 22nd.

Plato's drivethrough was followed by another visit to the pits, this time switching to slicks. That lost time meant he finished 25th, last of the finishers.

Race one results - 24 laps

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Josh Cook BTC Racing Honda 21m26.907s
2 Jake Hill Trade Price Cars Racing Audi 2.723s
3 Tom Chilton Motorbase Performance Ford 3.850s
4 Aiden Moffat Laser Tools Racing Mercedes 12.761s
5 Adam Morgan Ciceley Motorsport Mercedes 13.173s
6 Bobby Thompson Team Hard Volkswagen 13.263s
7 Stephen Jelley Team Parker Racing BMW 34.256s
8 Matt Neal Team Dynamics Honda 42.490s
9 Ash Sutton BMR Racing Subaru 43.252s
10 Rory Butcher AmD Tuning Honda 43.507s
11 Jack Goff Team Hard Volkswagen 45.600s
12 Michael Crees Team Hard Volkswagen 47.672s
13 Tom Ingram Speedworks Motorsport Toyota 47.761s
14 Mark Blundell Trade Price Cars Racing Audi 48.437s
15 Andrew Jordan WSR BMW 50.044s
16 Dan Cammish Team Dynamics Honda 50.337s
17 Senna Proctor BMR Racing Subaru 51.967s
18 Matt Simpson Simpson Racing Honda 53.571s
19 Colin Turkington WSR BMW 1 Lap
20 Nicolas Hamilton Motorbase Performance Ford 1 Lap
21 Rob Collard Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall 1 Lap
22 Tom Oliphant WSR BMW 1 Lap
23 Daniel Rowbottom Ciceley Motorsport Mercedes 1 Lap
24 Sam Osborne Excelr8 Motorsport MG 1 Lap
25 Jason Plato Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall 1 Lap
- Carl Boardley Team Hard Volkswagen Retirement
- Rob Smith Excelr8 Motorsport MG Retirement
- Ollie Jackson Motorbase Performance Ford Retirement
- Chris Smiley BTC Racing Honda Retirement
- Sam Tordoff AmD Tuning Honda Retirement

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Plato: Brands BTCC qualifying result will 'shut some people up'
Next article Dry tyres for BTCC opener a 'no brainer', says victor Josh Cook

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe