BTCC Donington Park: Josh Cook fastest in damp practice sessions
Power Maxed Racing's Josh Cook set the fastest time across the opening two free practice sessions ahead of the second BTCC round of the year at Donington Park
Both the 40-minute timed sessions were held in damp conditions, with the circuit only
drying slightly over the closing moments.
The 26-year-old eclipsed the factory Honda Civic Type R of Dan Cammish midway through the second period to record a lap of 1m19.863s.
"We still need to get faster, [as] everyone else will," said Cook.
"I never even look at the timesheets during qualifying, it is all about getting the balance of the car right and we still have a way to go to make it perfect.
"We also don't know what the weather is going to do [for qualifying this afternoon]. It is a muddled picture at the minute."
Behind Cammish, Chris Smiley took the third-best time in his BTC Norlin Honda Civic, while
Andrew Jordan's time from the opening period meant his WSR BMW 125i M Sport was
enough to put him fourth in the combined standings.
The 2013 title winner was forced to sit out the second period of the second session
when a turbo pipe failure was suspected on his German car and he drove his smoky car into the garage.
Also setting his fastest time in session one was reigning champion Ash Sutton, who recorded a 1m20.415s lap in the Team BMR Subaru Levorg to place fifth in the combined times.
However, he too was stuck by dramas in the second session when a suspected engine
problem meant he only recorded nine laps.
The combined top six was rounded out by the Eurotech Racing Honda Civic Type R of Brett Smith, who had a couple of small offs in the second session.
The second factory Honda of Matt Neal was in the wars, missing most of the second session following damage sustained after the three-time champion went off.
Jason Plato's Subaru Levorg also lost out on some running as it ground to a halt at the end of the pitlane. Plato returned to the action for the closing minutes.
The only red flag of the morning's running came in free practice two when Tom Chilton's
Motorbase Performance Ford Focus stopped at Schwantz Curve following an ECU
problem.
He managed to return to the pits and continue once the system had been reset.
FP1 results
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Dan Cammish | Team Dynamics | Honda | 1m19.925s |
2 | Josh Cook | Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall | 0.027s |
3 | Andrew Jordan | WSR | BMW | 0.432s |
4 | Ash Sutton | Team BMR | Subaru | 0.490s |
5 | Brett Smith | Eurotech Racing | Honda | 0.554s |
6 | Aiden Moffat | Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes | 0.576s |
7 | James Cole | Motorbase | Ford | 0.609s |
8 | Rory Butcher | AmD Tuning | MG | 0.704s |
9 | Jack Goff | Eurotech Racing | Honda | 0.823s |
10 | Adam Morgan | Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes | 0.843s |
11 | Tom Chilton | Motorbase | Ford | 0.895s |
12 | Matt Simpson | Eurotech Racing | Honda | 0.908s |
13 | Tom Oliphant | Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes | 0.923s |
14 | James Nash | BTC Norlin | Honda | 1.121s |
15 | Matt Neal | Team Dynamics | Honda | 1.191s |
16 | Chris Smiley | BTC Norlin | Honda | 1.202s |
17 | Tom Ingram | Speedworks | Toyota | 1.203s |
18 | Colin Turkington | WSR | BMW | 1.457s |
19 | Senna Proctor | Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall | 1.549s |
20 | Sam Tordoff | Motorbase | Ford | 1.643s |
21 | Rob Austin | HMS Racing | Alfa Romeo | 1.677s |
22 | Tom Boardman | AmD Tuning | MG | 1.688s |
23 | Ollie Jackson | AmD Tuning | Audi | 1.762s |
24 | Mike Bushell | Team Hard | Volkswagen | 1.785s |
25 | Josh Price | Team BMR | Subaru | 1.976s |
26 | Stephen Jelley | Team Parker Racing | BMW | 2.294s |
27 | Sam Smelt | AmD Tuning | Audi | 2.589s |
28 | Rob Collard | WSR | BMW | 2.925s |
29 | Jason Plato | Team BMR | Subaru | 3.004s |
30 | Bobby Thompson | Team Hard | Volkswagen | 6.645s |
31 | Michael Caine | Team Hard | Volkswagen | - |
32 | Jake Hill | Team Hard | Volkswagen | - |
FP2 results
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Josh Cook | Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall | 1m19.863s |
2 | Dan Cammish | Team Dynamics | Honda | 0.379s |
3 | Chris Smiley | BTC Norlin | Honda | 0.463s |
4 | Aiden Moffat | Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes | 0.871s |
5 | Sam Tordoff | Motorbase | Ford | 1.067s |
6 | Rory Butcher | AmD Tuning | MG | 1.085s |
7 | Tom Chilton | Motorbase | Ford | 1.100s |
8 | Tom Ingram | Speedworks | Toyota | 1.102s |
9 | Tom Oliphant | Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes | 1.109s |
10 | Adam Morgan | Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes | 1.114s |
11 | Matt Simpson | Eurotech Racing | Honda | 1.126s |
12 | Ash Sutton | Team BMR | Subaru | 1.153s |
13 | Senna Proctor | Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall | 1.252s |
14 | James Nash | BTC Norlin | Honda | 1.335s |
15 | Jack Goff | Eurotech Racing | Honda | 1.364s |
16 | Ollie Jackson | AmD Tuning | Audi | 1.406s |
17 | James Cole | Motorbase | Ford | 1.492s |
18 | Brett Smith | Eurotech Racing | Honda | 1.522s |
19 | Colin Turkington | WSR | BMW | 1.555s |
20 | Rob Austin | HMS Racing | Alfa Romeo | 1.675s |
21 | Andrew Jordan | WSR | BMW | 1.774s |
22 | Josh Price | Team BMR | Subaru | 1.822s |
23 | Stephen Jelley | Team Parker Racing | BMW | 1.838s |
24 | Jake Hill | Team Hard | Volkswagen | 1.865s |
25 | Tom Boardman | AmD Tuning | MG | 1.872s |
26 | Matt Neal | Team Dynamics | Honda | 1.967s |
27 | Mike Bushell | Team Hard | Volkswagen | 2.119s |
28 | Rob Collard | WSR | BMW | 2.228s |
29 | Bobby Thompson | Team Hard | Volkswagen | 2.617s |
30 | Jason Plato | Team BMR | Subaru | 2.643s |
31 | Sam Smelt | AmD Tuning | Audi | 2.993s |
32 | Michael Caine | Team Hard | Volkswagen | 3.378s |
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