Josh Cook claimed his tenth BTCC career victory at Thruxton as the Rich Energy BTC Racing star ended a challenging mid-season run on a high at his favourite circuit.
Cook has won 18 times in the UK's premier motorsport series, with an incredible ten of those coming in Hampshire after his reverse grid success this afternoon.
The 31-year-old had to scythe his way past the Team BMW duo of Colin Turkington and Stephen Jelley to win this one, although in truth his Honda Civic Type R was clearly the class of the field.
Turkington and Jelley completed the podium, as the former pulled six points clear in the race for the championship, whilst Rory Butcher (Toyota GAZOO Racing UK) and Ash Sutton (NAPA Racing UK) rounded off their own impressive weekend with top five finishes.
Daniel Rowbottom diced past Tom Ingram's Hyundai late on, with the former losing points on a rather tricky Sunday afternoon for the EXCELR8 Motorsport squad.
CarStore Power Maxed Racing's Michael Crees faded from third on the grid to eventually finish eighth, whilst Gordon Shedden (Halfords Racing with Cataclean) and Dan Cammish (NAPA Racing UK) completed the top ten.
Jake Hill's championship chances were slightly dented as his ROKiT MB Motorsport machine ran onto the grass during the opening lap, and the Kent racer had to settle for 12th at the finish.
Josh Cook said: “That car was just unbelievable to drive. You search for that sweet spot in the car, ultimate pace, and not working the tyres too hard - I barely had any tyre degradation. I’m still speechless. It’s been a tough few months so to get that for the team, that meant a lot.
“The BMWs are quick and as soon as they switch their tyres on they’re too quick, so I had to pounce while they were still building everything up to temperature. Then I just got my head down and it was quali lap after quali lap, and I was expecting the car to drop away but it never did.”
Colin Turkington said: “I came out relatively unscathed. Good points for me today but nothing spectacular. Qualifying in P15 puts you on the back foot but we got the car back to where we needed it, particularly for Race Three. It was the first time I saw my lap times in the 16s so I knew from lap one that the car was quicker, and I could keep the pace up, so it was good points and nice to get on the podium.”
2022 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race Three – Thruxton
1. Josh COOK (GBR) Rich Energy BTC Racing 14 laps
2. Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +2.682s
3. Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team BMW +4.844s
4. Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Toyota GAZOO Racing UK +6.043s
5. Ash SUTTON (GBR) Napa Racing UK +7.854s
6. Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +8.179s
7. Tom INGRAM (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +10.813s
8. Michael CREES (GBR) CarStore Power Maxed Racing +11.035s
9. Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +12.034s
10. Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Napa Racing UK +12.766s
11. Daniel LLOYD (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +13.957s
12. Jake HILL (GBR) ROKiT MB Motorsport +14.197s
13. Ricky COLLARD (GBR) Toyota GAZOO Racing UK +14.660s
14. Ollie JACKSON (GBR) Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan +21.752s
15. Jack BUTEL (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +23.879s
16. Tom CHILTON (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +24.872s
17. Ash HAND (GBR) CarStore Power Maxed Racing +27.776s
18. Árón TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) Yazoo with Safuu.com Racing +28.755s
19. Dexter PATTERSON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +30.877s
20. Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero +30.993s
21. Jade EDWARDS (GBR) Rich Energy BTC Racing +31.554s
22. Rick PARFITT (GBR) Uptonsteel with Euro Car Parts Racing +48.937s
23. Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero +1 lap
24. Adam MORGAN (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +1 lap
25. Jason PLATO (GBR) Rich Energy BTC Racing +6 laps
26. Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +7 laps
27. Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) Yazoo with Safuu.com Racing +8 laps
28. George GAMBLE (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +12 laps
29. Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan +13 laps
