Josh Cook had a superb Saturday at Croft Circuit, setting the fastest time in official qualifying and then executing a flawless drive to win the Race to Pole. Cook will start Race one tommorow on pole position.
Full Qualifying
It wasn’t all plain sailing for Josh Cook as he had to have a number of attempts to set his fastest lap. He was one of the many drivers that fell foul to track limits. By the end of the session, Cook didn’t have a competative lap registered and was relying on his last effort being a good one. Cook crossed the line and set a 1:20.663 which put him fastest in his group and the front of the race to pole grid. Dan Cammish would join him on the front row as the fastest competitor in Group 1. Mikey Doble was third fastest in his Audi A3 Saloon and had Tom Ingram alongside him. Championship leader Ash Sutton was fifth and he was joined on the third row by Gordon Shedden. Aiden Moffat, Daryl DeLeon, Ricky Collard and Dan Rowbottom rounded out the top 10.
The Race to Pole
Whilst Cook got off to a flying start and faced no troubles into Clearvaux, his fellow Toyota driver Gordon Shedden was hit and sent spinning before Hawthorns. Cook came under pressure from Cammish into Tower on lap two as he now had two NAPA Racing Fords in his mirror with Sutton up to third.
Mikey Doble’s Audi ground to a temporary halt on lap two heading into the complex. A dissapointing result for Doble in a crucial weekend for the Independent championships.
With his boost advantage, Cook started to stretch his legs over the train of Cammish, Sutton and Ingram. The group stayed together for the majority of the race until lap 10 where Ingram made an error into Sunny In. The error put him on the grass and allowed Daryl DeLeon to pass before the Complex. The pair battled hard on the last lap, Ingram had the nose of his Hyundai level with DeLeon into the Chicane and looked to have got the place back. But DeLeon fought back with a strong move back down the inside into Tower which sealed the deal.
Josh Cook crossed the line to take his second Race to Pole victory of the season, followed home by the NAPA duo of Cammish and Sutton.
The grid for Race One on Sunday:
1. Josh Cook 2. Dan Cammish 3. Ash Sutton 4. Daryl DeLeon 5. Tom Ingram 6. Aiden Moffat 7. Ricky Collard 8. Dan Rowbottom 9. Chris Smiley 10. Dan Lloyd 11. Charles Rainford 12. Adam Morgan 13. Tom Chilton 14. Lewis Selby 15. Aron Taylor-Smith 16. Dexter Patterson 17. Gordon Shedden 18. Sam Osbourne 19. Lewis Gilbert 20. Ryan Bensley 21. Mikey Doble 22. Nicholas Hamilton 23. Nick Halstead
