Commanding Cook Wins Final Race At Thruxton

BTC Racing's Josh Cook earned his second Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship victory of the season after producing a commanding display in the Thruxton finale.

Cook squeezed his Honda Civic Type R alongside Ash Sutton's pole-sitting Adrian Flux Subaru Racing Levorg on the opening lap and edged past through the first chicane. The Bath racer had to contend with two safety car periods, as well as race long attention from Rory Butcher and Sutton, but he held on brilliantly to keep his title challenge well on track.

Sutton was looking to score his first win of the season and looked racy early on, but he would eventually be relieved of second place through Church as the Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Honda of Butcher nipped past on the inside of the fastest corner in Britain. That eye-catching move also helped Butcher to the joint lead of the overall standings, alongside Colin Turkington.

Halfords Yuasa Racing's Matt Neal and Team Toyota GB with Ginsters' Tom Ingram followed the lead trio home, whilst Dan Cammish completed a good day's work with sixth place.

Team BMW's Tom Oliphant enjoyed his best result of the day in seventh, ahead of Jason Plato. The Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing driver has been in front-running form so far this season and the double BTCC champion collected a solid points haul at Thruxton.

Turkington came home ninth to join Butcher at the top of the standings, whilst Aiden Moffat ended a challenging weekend with a much deserved top ten finish.

Josh Cook said: "We needed that one. It's been a tough day today. I executed the start nicely and got past Ash (Sutton) and then just managed it from there. We took a bit of a gamble on setup and it paid off in the end. Our Team Manager Zoe (Timbrell) had to shoot off ill earlier, so that was for her. I'm chuffed for the team – it's been a hard day."

Rory Butcher said: "That was a fantastic race day for us. We started fifth all day and we've bagged some really good points. It was nice to have such a strong race but I didn't really have an answer for Josh (Cook) out front in that last one and I had to look in the mirrors back towards Ash (Sutton) a little. Some new brakes on for the final race made the difference and Mike (Bushell, engineer) has done a superb job all weekend."

Ash Sutton said: "It would have been stupid for me to put up too much of a fight into turn two. Josh (Cook) got there and in my head that would be that. We got good points and we're still in the mix but it's been a tough day."

2019 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Round 9 – Thruxton Circuit

1 Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing 19 laps
2 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance +0.420s
3 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.894s
4 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +3.786s
5 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Team Toyota GB with Ginsters +4.468s
6 Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +5.510s
7 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +6.012s
8 Jason PLATO (GBR) Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing +6.466s
9 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +6.728s
10 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +11.326s
11 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Racing +11.679s
12 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +12.112s
13 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +12.826s
14 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing +13.115s
15 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +13.511s
16 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +15.609s
17 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +16.493s
18 Jake HILL (GBR) TradePriceCars.com +17.280s
19 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +19.707s
20 Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct +23.297s
21 Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +32.064s
22 Michael CREES (GBR) GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct +43.032s
23 Rob SMITH (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +1m14.546s
24 Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with Motorbase +1 lap
25 Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Cataclean Racing with Ciceley Motorsport +7 laps
26 Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +11 laps
27 Mark BLUNDELL (GBR) TradePriceCars.com +12 laps
28 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance +13 laps
29 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport +19 laps
30 Jack GOFF (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +19 laps

19th May 2019