The “King of Thruxton” enjoyed yet another good day, winning the British Touring Car Championship‘s Race to Pole as Tom Ingram and Ash Sutton followed behind.
Thruxton favourite Cook set the mark in Group 1 of timed qualifying, with a lap of 1:15.219 that proved to be insurmountable.
Tom Ingram, Dan Cammish, Senna Proctor, and Adam Morgan rounded out the top five, with Cammish surviving a spin. Charles Rainford, James Dorlin, and Mikey Doble also spun, while Gordon Shedden’s bonnet flipped and forced his squad to tape it down for the remainder of the session.
And when the Race to Pole commenced, it was Cook who retained his lead through the first few corners – under heavy challenge from Ingram. However, a stricken Ricky Collard triggered a Safety Car at the end of the first lap, forcing the stewards to pause running almost immediately.
When running got back underway at the start of the fourth lap, it was Ingram, Cammish, Sutton, Proctor, and Morgan following the leading Corolla of Cook. But, Morgan completed a firm move on Proctor’s Ford to take P5.
As a result of the Safety Car, the stewards extended the race to 14 laps.
On the next lap, Sutton managed to win out a battle between himself and Cammish to take P3, having already climbed four places. Despite the strong start, a mistake from Morgan at Allard saw him fall down to P7, with a charging Gordon Shedden the main beneficiary.
Elsewhere, a collective of drivers headed into the pits, including Charles Rainford, Nicolas Hamilton, and the new pair of Ryan Bensley and Lewis Gilbert.
A battle between Shedden and Morgan saw the latter pipped by teammate Dan Rowbottom through Allard, though with little fight. The pair continued racing tight over the next handful of laps, with Morgan getting by on the twelfth tour.
Team VERTU’s reliability continued to be put under question as Tom Chilton peeled to the side of the road on lap 13 and retired from the race.
But, in a Qualifying Race of little action at the front, it was Cook who took an uncontested chequered flag. Ingram followed, with Sutton rounding out the top three.
Cammish, Proctor, Shedden, Morgan, Rowbottom, Doble and Dorlin rounded out the best 10. Closing out the points scorers were Árón Taylor-Smith, Free Practice topper Chris Smiley, Aiden Moffat, and Dexter Patterson.
BTCC Thruxton Race to Pole Results
| Position | Driver | Team | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Josh Cook | Speedworks Corolla Racing | |
| 2. | Tom Ingram | Team Vertu | +1.072 |
| 3. | Ashley Sutton | NAPA Racing UK | +1.940 |
| 4. | Dan Cammish | NAPA Racing UK | +5.881 |
| 5. | Senna Proctor | NAPA Racing UK | +7.075 |
| 6. | Gordon Shedden | Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport | +8.882 |
| 7. | Adam Morgan | Cataclean Plato Racing | +9.772 |
| 8. | Daniel Rowbottom | Cataclean Plato Racing | +12.127 |
| 9. | Mikey Doble | LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing | +14.037 |
| 10. | James Dorlin | Restart Racing | +14.448 |
| 11. | Árón Taylor-Smith | Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport | +15.585 |
| 12. | Chris Smiley | Restart Racing | +17.535 |
| 13. | Aiden Moffat | LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing | +18.640 |
| 14. | Dexter Patterson | Steel Seal with Power Maxed Racing | +19.347 |
| 15. | Daryl De Leon | WSR | +21.409 |
| 16. | Lewis Selby | NAPA Racing UK | +24.533 |
| 17. | Charles Rainford | WSR | 1 Lap |
| DNF | Tom Chilton | Team Vertu | |
| DNF | Nicolas Hamilton | Team Vertu | |
| DNF | Ryan Bensley | Speedworks Corolla Racing | |
| DNF | Lewis Gilbert | WSR | |
| DNF | Ricky Collard | Team Vertu |
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