Josh
Cook has seen his lead slide to just 15 points in the Courier Connections
Renault Clio Cup UK, after suffering from contact in round 10 of the
championship at Croft.
The
23 year old came into the weekend leading the championship by a healthy 32
points from nearest rival James Colburn. However, despite showing good pace in
the free practice sessions on Friday and topping the time sheets, the
championship leader was unable to match the pace of Jordan Stilp in Saturday’s
qualifying session, with the 19 year old taking pole position for both of the
following races, with Cook settling for second.
Cook
struggled in the first race of the day, after contact on the opening lap at
Clervaux between James Colburn and Paul Rivett dropped him back down the field
as he manoeuvred around the collision, and as a result team mates Ash Hand and
Ant Whorton-Eales were able to take advantage and get passed on the inside
line. After moving off the racing line early on, Cook was unable to recover and
had to settle for fourth place after duelling with Whorton-Eales for a podium
finish.
After
missing out on a podium, Cook was determined to make amends in the second race
of the day, again starting on the front row. Unfortunately his race was to be
short lived, as Paul Rivett got caught up once again at Clervaux on the opening
lap, this time coming together with the championship leader, who in turn
collided with the tyre stack at Hawthorn and his Clio sustained significant
damage as a result. Despite a brave effort to soldier on, the damage was too
much and Cook subsequently received a black and orange flag, forcing him to pit
and end any chance of rescuing a point’s finish.
Cook
was clearly disappointed with the way the weekend panned out after a string of
good results, but will be hoping to bounce back after the summer break at
Snetterton, and will take some comfort about still leading the championship
after a poor weekend.
Written
by Alan Faulkner
Photo
Credit: Darren Hurrell Photographs
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