LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ's Josh Cook produced a brilliant move in the latter stages of race two at Croft, disposing of stablemate Rob Huff to take a 20th Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship victory.
It was a dramatic race from the outset as pole-sitter Colin Turkington (Team BMW) made a decent getaway, but he was immediately reeled in by second placed Tom Ingram (Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS). The #80 Hyundai fired around the outside of the #20 BMW at Tower Bend and was soon into the lead, but it was the gaggle of cars on Goodyear soft tyres busy making progress behind.
NAPA Racing UK's Ash Sutton muscled by team-mate Dan Cammish, and the former would then make contact with fellow four-time champ Turkington from behind in the run up to Tower on lap three. Turkington's BMW slid off-track and returned to the Tarmac just inside the top ten.
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK's Huff was now into second and was soon bringing fellow soft-shod runners of Cook and NAPA Racing UK's Dan Rowbottom with him.
The trio calmly passed leader Ingram one-by-one at Tower on three successive laps, with the championship leader recognising the need to score solid points without fighting.
The same couldn't be said for Jake Hill (Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport), who was embroiled in a race-long battle with Tom Chilton (Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS), which resulted in contact and the BMW running into the barrier and out of the points.
Lap 13 of 15 proved to be the pivotal moment as Cook soared around the outside of Huff's #12 Toyota Corolla at the Jim Clark Esses. It was a move right on the edge, but both emerged unscathed with Cook romping to his 20th career win in the BTCC.
Rowbottom pressured home Huff to complete the podium, whilst Ingram extended his championship advantage with fourth ahead of Sutton and Cammish.
Josh Cook said: "It was nerve-racking. It was a bit of a handful but yeah, I’m really pleased. Yesterday didn’t go to plan because I think we had a car that could have been on the front row during qualifying.
"The car was mega, really, really good. We definitely found some pace during the summer break, but we need to see if we stay there and keep developing in the right direction. I’m so pleased for LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ, and really pleased for Speedworks, getting a one-two for the team."
Croft - Race 2 – Classification
P/ | No/ | Name/ | Entry/ | Laps/ | Time/ | Gap/ | Best/ | On/ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 66 | Josh COOK | LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ | 15 | 21:03.148 | 1:22.625 | 5 | |
2 | 12 | Rob HUFF | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK | 15 | 21:03.890 | 0.742 | 1:22.826 | 4 |
3 | 32 | Daniel ROWBOTTOM | NAPA Racing UK | 15 | 21:04.102 | 0.954 | 1:22.921 | 5 |
4 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | 15 | 21:09.405 | 6.257 | 1:23.514 | 2 |
5 | 1 | Ashley SUTTON | NAPA Racing UK | 15 | 21:11.263 | 8.115 | 1:23.902 | 2 |
6 | 27 | Dan CAMMISH | NAPA Racing UK | 15 | 21:11.918 | 8.77 | 1:23.584 | 3 |
7 | 40 | Árón TAYLOR-SMITH | Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing | 15 | 21:19.920 | 16.772 | 1:24.018 | 5 |
8 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | 15 | 21:20.396 | 17.248 | 1:23.668 | 2 |
9 | 20 | Colin TURKINGTON | Team BMW | 15 | 21:21.115 | 17.967 | 1:23.968 | 2 |
10 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ | 15 | 21:21.506 | 18.358 | 1:24.102 | 3 |
11 | 88 | Mikey DOBLE | Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing | 15 | 21:21.968 | 18.82 | 1:24.120 | 5 |
12 | 11 | Andrew WATSON | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK | 15 | 21:26.419 | 23.271 | 1:24.151 | 4 |
13 | 77 | Sam OSBORNE | NAPA Racing UK | 15 | 21:26.500 | 23.352 | 1:24.380 | 3 |
14 | 18 | Daryl DELEON | Duckhams Racing With Bartercard | 15 | 21:28.240 | 25.092 | 1:24.119 | 7 |
15 | 29 | Scott SUMPTON | Restart Racing | 15 | 21:28.522 | 25.374 | 1:24.054 | 5 |
16 | 24 | Jake HILL | Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport | 15 | 21:33.096 | 29.948 | 1:24.002 | 5 |
17 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | Team BMW | 13 | 21:29.182 | 2 Laps | 1:23.464 | 13 |
DNF | 22 | Nick HALSTEAD | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | 14 | 20:29.939 | 1 Lap | 1:25.374 | 3 |
DNF | 222 | Chris SMILEY | Restart Racing | 12 | 17:10.325 | 3 Laps | 1:23.930 | 3 |
DNF | 14 | Ronan PEARSON | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | 7 | 13:29.358 | 8 Laps | 1:23.607 | 5 |