Eighteen British Touring Car Championship victories and two Independents’Trophy triumphs is a return that many tin-top drivers would be quite happy to reflect on with pride. For Josh Cook, however, those are only statistics that irk him.
The 32-year-old, who recently announced that he has signed to drive an LKQ-backed Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Corolla this season, has been a major player at the head of the British Touring Car Championship pack for six years now. But the big prize has remained elusive, and he is burning with a desire to put the main prize in his trophy cabinet.
Cook worked his way up through the national racing ranks with stints in the junior-focused Saxmax series and the 750 Motor Club cauldron of competition in Stock Hatch before finally stepping onto the BTCC undercard full-time in the Renault UK Clio Cup in 2012.
His graduation to the BTCC in 2015 showed his huge potential and, although it took him until 2018 to break into the winner’s circle, Cook has been a threat everywhere since.
His engineering background – he fettled rivals’ cars in junior levels and, until last year, ran his own Raceport operation – has made him more insightful than most on what it takes to extract the most from both the set-up and the driving skills needed to succeed at the highest level.
He is in demand as a historics racer and a driver coach and will work for teams in the Civic Cup and in TCR UK in 2024, but he has slimmed down his activities away from the BTCC in an effort to give the UK’s highest profile contest his all in 2024. If he succeeds, it will be about time.
He took time out of his pre-season preparations to tackle the Motorsport News readers’ questions, and didn’t flinch at any. We are grateful.
Question: You began karting when you were 12 years old, which is relatively late compared to some other drivers – was there a reason for this?
James Hilton
Via email
Josh Cook: “My grandad Douggie used to race Minis at Castle Combe, but that was way before I was born and sadly he passed away when I was about six months old. My dad was never involved in motorsport although my uncles did motocross, but I never really had any lead into motorsport from my family, even though I figure it must have been in my blood from my grandad at some point.
“When I was something like six years old, one of my friends had an indoor go karting party and I went along and I loved it. I kept on asking to go back. I got to I think 10 or 11 years old and I used to play hockey for Bath and one day, I literally stood on the sidelines and cried and refused to come on until my dad had agreed to take me karting again! I think dad had to say yes because he was so embarrassed.
“So we went. I started some indoor karting and then some outdoor stuff at Castle Combe on a little track there.”
MN: Looking back at the record books, you were a winner quite quickly in your karting career…
