Josh Cook proclaimed that Speedworks Corolla are all reading off the same hymn sheet after Saturday at Snetterton, having finished P2 in the British Touring Car Championship Race to Pole.
Cook’s Saturday started slowly in Free Practice, with the Somersetian ending nearly two seconds off the pace.
The Toyota driver posted a 1:55.485 in Group 1 to earn himself P3 on the grid for the Qualifying Race.
His position quickly improved after lights out after Tom Chilton tangled with Charles Rainford and fell out of the lead.
Despite expectations of Snetterton not suiting the Corolla, Cook stuck with Rainford’s BMW for a few laps before ending the eight-lap race just two seconds back.
“It was a nice turnaround, that’s for sure, from Free Practice,” he told BTCC media.
“We struggled in Free Practice, but we just had to chip away and try and nudge the car back in the right direction.
“It’s so sensitive for us with this car, so once you get it in a window it’s good, but if we just wander out of that window it becomes a handful.
“So we ran through quite a few things this morning, but of course it probably looked worse than what it was.
“But it was nice just to put a new set of tyres on and go out in time to qualifying, and obviously get a P3 overall, and then of course to go into that Race for Pole and gain a place.
“I think we had a decent car beneath us, but there’s still a little bit to find to be able to catch that BMW.”
Josh Cook: Speedworks Corolla all reading off the same hymn sheet
Cook required some solid work from his team to turn things around in the scorching sun at Snetterton.
When probed on what Speedworks changed during the gap between Free Practice and qualifying, Cook revealed that a series of small changes were key to his fortunes turning.
“The changes are really small, but it’s actually part of when we talk about an engineer-driver relationship, it’s actually more a range thing that you’re discussing.
“I can say, I’d like you to do this to the car, or stiffen the rear roll bar, and my engineer may decide that he’s got a different scale. How big’s a little bit?
“You both have to be reading off the same hymn sheet. That’s a very difficult thing to learn from each other.
We did just some small changes, there was nothing massive, but there was a lot of things to do. The team had a big job to do, so well done to them for getting it all done.”
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