2021 BTCC Round One Report: Cook doubles up but Hill take championship lead at Thruxton

Josh Cook climbed atop the podium twice but a weather affected race three saw Jake Hill leave the south coast with the championship’s top spot.

It was a dramatic day as the ever entertaining British Touring Car Championship kicked-off it’s 64th season at Thruxton.

With new faces and new cars across the grid, it was always going to be a tough one to call, but it was BTC Racing’s Josh Cook who took the season’s start by the scruff of the neck by winning race one and two.

Cook got off to a difficult start in race one, with rear-wheel drive pair Colin Turkington and Ash Sutton getting the jump on the Civic. However, Turkington would touch the rear bumper of Sutton at Campbell, turning the reigning champion and allowing Cook to get a run on the Northern Irishman heading into Segrave.

There would be further drama as Gordan Shedden ran into the back of Ollie Jackson, seeing the returning Scot spin across the track and collecting innocent bystander Chris Smiley.

Cook’s stand-in team-mate Dan Cammish made an impression, driving his car to fifth after exciting battles with Jason Plato and Rory Butcher.

Sutton meanwhile recovered to 10th, improving to ninth as Turkington was penalised for his part in the incident. Cook would take the first checked flag of the season, followed home by Tom Ingram on an impressive Hyundai debut, while another debutant, Jake Hill, rounded out the podium in his new Ford Focus

R1 Top 10: Cook, Ingram, Hill, Cammish, Butcher, Plato, Rowbottom, Morgan, Sutton, Turkington

Race two got off to a false start, as Andy Neate started a huge accident at turn one. The Focus driver ran into the back of Glynn Geddie’s Cupra Leon at high speed, collecting Jade Edwards in the crash that saw Geddie end up on his roof and taking all three out of contention for race three due to damage.

Butcher would also have a big off after the race got back underway, losing the rear of his Toyota Corolla at high speed at Noble.

Once the race could get properly underway, Cook, via some beating and banging, would pass Ingram at the chicane before he and Cammish would take a BTC Racing one-two, Cammish playing the team game as he used his lighter car to defend ballast-laden Cook from the hard charging Hill.

Daniel Rowbottom would take fourth with an excellent switchback move on Plato at the chicane. Sutton dropped to the rear on lap one after pitting, however, he would make an outstanding comeback drive to finish ninth behind team-mate Aiden Moffat.

R2 Top 10: Cook, Cammish, Hill, Rowbottom, Plato, Ingram, Turkington, Moffat, Sutton, Oliphant

Change was a foot in a wet-dry-wet race three though, as teams struggled with tyre choices. It was tyre choice dilemmas that hindered double winner Cook. BTC changed his tyres too late, dropping him to the rear with a penalty. They would also call Cammish in to change his wet tyres for dries, right as the rain began to fall again see the pair finish 20th and 23rd respectively.

Hill, Oliphant and Smiley made the call to start on dry tyres, struggling initially before making a huge mid-race charge. Sutton had taken full advantage of the reverse grid, taking the lead early on. However, Hill and Olliphant would both pass him on lap 10. There would be another twist though, with the rain starting to fall once again.

No sooner had he taken the lead, Sutton was back on Hill’s tail, quickly retaking the lead. Hill now had to defend from Plato, who stuck with the wet tyres he started his Vauxhall Astra on. The two-time champion would stantch second from Hill on the line as Shedden also joined the fight, Hill held out for third from the Scot.

Dan Lloyd made it a great race for Power Maxed, as he finished fifth on his first weekend with the team, holding off BMW pair Turkington and Oliphant.

Jack Goff also brought the brand new Cupra Leon home in eighth in an impressive finish for the new machine.

R3 Top 10: Sutton, Plato, Hill, Shedden, Lloyd, Turkington, Oliphant, Goff, Jackson, Jelley

Despite Cook’s double win, Hill left Thruxton with the championship lead, although only by a point. Plato holds third after an impressive return following a 2020 sabbatical, while reigning champion Sutton snatched fifth in the points with that race three win.

It was a strong weekend for debutants, Hill, Ingram, Cammish, Rowbottom, Goff, Lloyd, Shedden, Jelley and Butcher all leaving the Andover track in the top 15 with their new machinery.

1 Jake HILL 46

2 Josh COOK 45

3 Jason PLATO 38

4 Ash SUTTON 36

5 Dan CAMMISH 30

6 Tom INGRAM 27

7 Colin TURKINGTON 25

8 Dan ROWBOTTOM 22

9 Tom OLIPHANT 16

10 Jack GOFF 15

11 Gordon SHEDDEN 13

12 Aiden MOFFAT 13

13 Dan LLOYD 13

14 Stephen JELLEY 12

15 Rory BUTCHER 11

16 Ollie JACKSON 10

17 Adam MORGAN 8

18 Aron TAYLOR-SMITH 6

19 Tom CHILTON 5

20 Sam OSBORNE 4

21 Carl BOARDLEY 4

22 Sam SMELT 2

23 Chris SMILEY 1

24 Nicolas HAMILTON 0

25 Andy NEATE 0

26 Rick PARFITT 0

27 Glynn GEDDIE 0

28 Jack BUTEL 0

29 Jade EDWARDS 0