Courageous Cook charges to champagne celebration at Knockhill
West Country star produces gritty display north of the border
Hard-fought podium finish keeps Toyota ace’s title tilt intact
Home hero Moffat delights fans with brace of top eight results
Josh Cook grabbed the bull by the horns as the British Touring Car Championship raced north to Knockhill in Scotland last weekend (10-11 August), producing a pair of crowd-pleasing overtakes to claim a sixth podium finish of the 2024 campaign for LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ.
Behind the wheel of his British-built, Speedworks Motorsport-prepared Toyota Corolla GR Sport, Cook matched his season-best qualifying performance in the UK’s premier motor racing series as he secured fifth on the grid amongst the 20 high-calibre contenders. Fastest of all through the middle sector of the lap in Q3, he ended up a mere two tenths-of-a-second adrift of pole position around the undulating Fife circuit.
The next day, in front of the live ITV4 television cameras and a large and enthusiastic trackside crowd, the two-time BTCC Independents’ champion went on a charge. A bright start elevated him immediately to fourth in the curtain-raising contest, and he subsequently settled into a tight three-way tussle for the runner-up spoils.
Showing no shortage of bravery, Cook opportunistically followed Adam Morgan past Árón Taylor-Smith at the chicane at three-quarter distance, and then exploited an excellent exit out of the hairpin three laps later to draw alongside the BMW on the start/finish straight. Leaving his braking as late as he dared into Turn One, he swept boldly around the outside into second place, thereafter retaining the position to the chequered flag to maintain the momentum sparked by his recent victories at Oulton Park and Croft.
Switching to the slower medium-compound tyre for race two and with the second-lowest hybrid allocation in the field, the 33-year-old knew he would have his work cut out to repeat that result, but he knuckled down to record a strong fourth-place finish. After inevitably having to give best to soft-tyre shod rivals Jake Hill and Dan Rowbottom, he confidently kept defending champion Ash Sutton at bay to bolster his title bid.
From ninth on the partially-reversed grid for the day’s finale, Cook had gained a couple of spots when his challenge came dramatically unstuck. Having been pushed wide at the hairpin on lap 11, further contact between Duffus Dip and Leslie’s fired the Bath-born ace off-piste, and as he rejoined the track approaching the chicane, he was collected once again, sending his Toyota spinning spectacularly through the tyre stack and into retirement following a wild rollercoaster ride.
In the sister Corolla, team-mate Aiden Moffat displayed promising speed during free practice at his home circuit – lapping consistently inside the top ten in all conditions – but a difficult qualifying saw the local hero get knocked out of Q1 right at the end of the session, missing the cut by a mere 33 thousandths-of-a-second, which restricted him to a frustrated 14th on the grid.
The Scot bolted on the medium rubber for the opening encounter, in which he wound up just shy of the points in 16th after grappling with a differential issue, but he then made the most of the faster soft tyres in race two, scything his way up the order into eighth and engaging in a number of entertaining battles along the way.
Moffat completed his weekend’s work with a solid run to seventh in the final bout. After featuring as high as fourth, the 27-year-old Dalkeith native conceded some ground when his tyres picked up power steering fluid deposited on the track by Taylor-Smith’s Vauxhall, but he skilfully fended off title protagonists Dan Cammish and Colin Turkington to the flag to cement his biggest points haul since Snetterton back in May.
The season continues around Donington Park’s ‘GP’ layout on 26-27 August. LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ will travel there occupying fourth spot in the Teams’ standings.
Christian Dick, Team Principal, LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ, said:
“We already saw the benefit of our mid-season updates at Croft, but to be similarly competitive at Knockhill – an altogether different kind of circuit – gives us plenty of encouragement that they will translate into a stronger showing across the board.
“The team produced a herculean effort with Josh’s car to enable him to advance to the ‘Quick Six’ in qualifying and push for the podium in race one, and seeing him then deliver such an outstanding drive was no less than they deserved. It’s no exaggeration to say that was one of the most satisfying results of the year, as we really had to fight for it, both on and off-track. Josh was just as impressive on the medium tyre in race two, and was unfortunate to come off worse in a chain reaction incident in race three.
“On the other side of the garage, it was great to see Aiden battle back from his recent bad luck with a front-running display on home soil that justifiably earned him a couple of solid top ten finishes. That will hopefully give him a real lift as we return next to the scene of his race win back in April – arguably his best BTCC performance to-date.”
Josh Cook, Driver, LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ, said:
“Saturday wasn’t the smoothest of days due to some engine problems in practice, so all credit to the Speedworks guys and girls for managing to turn it around, which is no mean feat given the frenetic nature of a BTCC weekend. My crew dug deep to fix some of the issues we had, and to qualify fifth was a great result after such a difficult start.
“The team then stayed up really late on Saturday night to swap the engine in the car and make some other changes to ensure everything was absolutely tip-top for race day, so it was fantastic to reward them all with a trophy in race one – there’s no question that I wouldn’t have finished on the podium without their hard work.
“That was a good race. A little window opened up for me to stick my nose in going through the chicane in the battle with Adam [Morgan] and Árón [Taylor-Smith], and it was nice to be able to repay Adam later on for the similar move he had pulled on me at Oulton Park! I couldn’t have done that without such mutual respect – he gave me just enough room to allow us both to get through the corner cleanly.
“I wasn’t sure if it was going to stick, to be honest; I deployed my hybrid all the way up the straight, to the extent that I actually struggled to get the car stopped in time for Turn One, but I need as many points as I can get so I can’t really afford to sit around and wait for them to come to me – I have to grab them when they’re available.
“The target for race two was another solid haul, which we obviously achieved. We knew it would be trickier on the medium tyre with not a lot of hybrid, but that’s just the price you pay for reaping the rewards earlier in the day. Despite what then happened in race three, the mood inside the camp is still very positive. We’re always going to keep fighting to try to reach our goal – and that goal, ultimately, is the championship title.”
Aiden Moffat, Driver, LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ, said:
“I love racing at Knockhill, and it was nice to see the incredible Scottish fans enjoying some summer sunshine as well after usually having to put up with all kinds of weather! It was so close in qualifying – we only just missed out on progressing to Q2, when the same lap time would have seen us go through in the other group in Q1. I’m still struggling to extract that single-lap pace out of the car but the Toyota felt strong for race day, so I was looking forward to Sunday.
“The first race was difficult, as we had anticipated it would be on the medium tyre when more than half of the field was on softs, but our strategy was to take the pain early on to be able to fight back later in the day – and that paid off. The team did a great job to identify and rectify the differential problem during such a tight turnaround to provide me with a quick car for race two, and I had some really fun battles as I worked my way through the pack.
“After a strong start to race three, we unfortunately then suffered from being the first car picking up the power steering fluid dropped by Taylor-Smith. That hurt the tyres and masked the Corolla’s true pace and potential, turning it into a bit of a defensive drive when I had been looking forward to pushing on. Still, to hold off two of the top five drivers in the championship despite that disadvantage was very satisfying, and now we need to try to build upon that by taking a step forward again at Donington Park.”