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 |
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