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Practice report

BTCC Thruxton: Cook fastest from BTC Honda team-mate Plato in practice

Thruxton maestro Josh Cook emerged fastest across two sessions of free practice for the third round of the British Touring Car Championship at the Hampshire venue.

Josh Cook, Rich Energy BTC Racing Honda Civic Type R

Josh Cook, Rich Energy BTC Racing Honda Civic Type R

JEP / Motorsport Images

In the cool conditions of the opening session, the West Countryman whisked his BTC Racing Honda Civic Type R around the UK’s fastest circuit 0.111 seconds quicker than the best anyone else could manage.

Second fastest the sister BTC Honda of veteran two-time champion Jason Plato, who appears in his strongest position to date this season to edge closer to the magical 100-wins mark from his current tally of 97.

Conditions warmed up slightly for the second session, in which the quickest contender was the West Surrey Racing-run BMW 330e M Sport of Jake Hill, although the bearded Kentishman couldn’t quite match his earlier-session best, which put him third fastest overall.

Cook was third in the later period behind the Motorbase Performance-run Ford Focus of Ash Sutton.

“The car feels really nice,” Cook told Autosport after emerging from the Honda following the second session.

“It’s always a lot better when you come out of the box well, and we’re slowly getting small improvements – I’m hanging on but it’s a real pleasure to drive, the circuit’s in great condition, and at the moment it’s all going to plan.

“Everyone will go faster when it counts in qualifying, and if we get in the top five that’s good [because he’s second in the championship, Cook is allowed just 1.5 seconds of hybrid use per lap].”

Hill set two laps quicker than the best anyone else could manage in the second session, in which he beat Sutton by 0.174s – Sutton returned to the pits with grass in his radiator on a subsequent effort, but his performance was good for fourth overall.

Jake Hill, ROKiT MB Motorsport BMW 330e M Sport

Jake Hill, ROKiT MB Motorsport BMW 330e M Sport

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

A trio of Dans were next up, with Rowbottom’s second-session time in his Team Dynamics Honda putting him fifth overall after a tidy lap, followed by late improver Lloyd’s Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 N and the second of the NAPA-liveried Motorbase Fords in the hands of Cammish.

Colin Turkington was there or thereabouts all morning in his WSR BMW to end up eighth across the two sessions, while fellow multiple champion Gordon Shedden put the second of the Dynamics Hondas into ninth, with both of the West Midlands squad’s Civics stepping up the pace in the second session after doing long 18-lap race runs in the morning period.

The top 10 overall was completed by championship leader Tom Ingram’s Excelr8 Hyundai.

Ingram was just half a tenth down on Hill’s best in the dying stages of the second session when the red flags appeared with less than 90 seconds on the clock to retrieve the Laser Tools Racing Infiniti of Aiden Moffat.

Apart from Ingram, most of the leading contenders sat in the pits for the final period of running, since Thruxton is the only circuit where the hard-compound Goodyear tyre is used and, with another event at the Hampshire speedbowl coming up in August, they are mindful of saving carryover rubber for later in the season.

BTCC Thurxton - Practice results

FP2

Cla Driver Laps Time Gap Interval
1 United Kingdom Jake Hill 19 1'15.722    
2 United Kingdom Ashley Sutton 16 1'15.896 0.174 0.174
3 United Kingdom Josh Cook 16 1'15.949 0.227 0.053
4 United Kingdom Daniel Rowbottom 15 1'15.969 0.247 0.020
5 United Kingdom Daniel Lloyd 17 1'16.083 0.361 0.114
6 United Kingdom Dan Cammish 15 1'16.099 0.377 0.016
7 United Kingdom Gordon Shedden 14 1'16.198 0.476 0.099
8 United Kingdom Colin Turkington 18 1'16.294 0.572 0.096
9 United Kingdom Jason Plato 10 1'16.354 0.632 0.060
10 United Kingdom Tom Chilton 16 1'16.363 0.641 0.009
11 United Kingdom Stephen Jelley 19 1'16.468 0.746 0.105
12 Jade Edwards 17 1'16.667 0.945 0.199
13 United Kingdom Tom Ingram 18 1'16.686 0.964 0.019
14 United Kingdom Sam Osborne 19 1'16.704 0.982 0.018
15 United Kingdom Ollie Jackson 18 1'16.720 0.998 0.016
16 Bobby Thompson 16 1'16.779 1.057 0.059
17 United Kingdom Ash Hand 16 1'16.805 1.083 0.026
18 Michael Crees 17 1'16.837 1.115 0.032
19 United Kingdom Adam Morgan 12 1'16.938 1.216 0.101
20 United Kingdom Rory Butcher 14 1'16.977 1.255 0.039
21 George Gamble 16 1'17.004 1.282 0.027
22 Ireland Aron Taylor-Smith 17 1'17.056 1.334 0.052
23 United Kingdom Aiden Moffat 16 1'17.097 1.375 0.041
24 United Kingdom Ricky Collard 15 1'17.631 1.909 0.534
25 Jersey Jack Butel 18 1'17.958 2.236 0.327
26 Nicolas Hamilton 21 1'18.017 2.295 0.059
27 Dexter Patterson 21 1'18.024 2.302 0.007
28 Will Powell 20 1'18.492 2.770 0.468
29 Rick Parfitt Jr. 18 1'19.081 3.359 0.589

FP1

Cla Driver Laps Time Gap Interval
1 United Kingdom Josh Cook 13 1'15.462    
2 United Kingdom Jason Plato 12 1'15.573 0.111 0.111
3 United Kingdom Jake Hill 19 1'15.642 0.180 0.069
4 United Kingdom Ashley Sutton 15 1'15.952 0.490 0.310
5 United Kingdom Colin Turkington 19 1'16.153 0.691 0.201
6 United Kingdom Dan Cammish 14 1'16.263 0.801 0.110
7 United Kingdom Tom Ingram 17 1'16.287 0.825 0.024
8 United Kingdom Adam Morgan 18 1'16.306 0.844 0.019
9 United Kingdom Rory Butcher 14 1'16.438 0.976 0.132
10 United Kingdom Stephen Jelley 21 1'16.495 1.033 0.057
11 United Kingdom Daniel Rowbottom 22 1'16.579 1.117 0.084
12 Bobby Thompson 18 1'16.585 1.123 0.006
13 George Gamble 20 1'16.624 1.162 0.039
14 United Kingdom Ricky Collard 19 1'16.673 1.211 0.049
15 United Kingdom Aiden Moffat 20 1'16.674 1.212 0.001
16 United Kingdom Gordon Shedden 21 1'16.678 1.216 0.004
17 United Kingdom Daniel Lloyd 16 1'16.768 1.306 0.090
18 United Kingdom Ash Hand 21 1'16.784 1.322 0.016
19 United Kingdom Ollie Jackson 20 1'16.937 1.475 0.153
20 United Kingdom Tom Chilton 12 1'16.961 1.499 0.024
21 United Kingdom Sam Osborne 21 1'17.534 2.072 0.573
22 Jade Edwards 19 1'17.642 2.180 0.108
23 Jersey Jack Butel 20 1'18.255 2.793 0.613
24 Ireland Aron Taylor-Smith 16 1'18.327 2.865 0.072
25 Dexter Patterson 23 1'18.343 2.881 0.016
26 Nicolas Hamilton 22 1'18.390 2.928 0.047
27 Will Powell 22 1'18.703 3.241 0.313
28 Rick Parfitt Jr. 18 1'18.720 3.258 0.017

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