BTCC The Contenders: Josh Cook

Josh Cook has been a consistent challenger for race wins and podiums ever since he joined the BTCC and last year he kept on claiming more race wins and podiums ending up in the six-way title fight that played out throughout the year but heading into 2025 he returns to his former team once more.

Cook began karting in 2003 and for four years he would grow before jumping into his first series in cars. He would race in the SAXMAX Saloon Car Championship from 2007 until 2011 where he would improve until he made a move to the Renault Clio Cup UK for 2012. In his debut season he would show excellent speed and skill taking two wins overall and another two podiums on his way to fifth in the overall standings and to become the winner of the Rookie Cup. He would follow that up by taking another win and four podiums the following year having only failed to finish a single race that season. 2014 would then be his final year in the championship and would be his most successful with him taking the most wins that year with six and a further four podiums. He would miss out on the title as he would have three retirements to rival Mike Bushell’s one.

The following year he would make the step up to the BTCC and drive for #RacingforHeroes in a Chevrolet Cruze. His year would be decent at he would score points in over two thirds of the races and in the final third of the year he would claim his maiden podium at Rockingham. This would boost his points tally as he would end the season with 97 points and 15th in the standings. While his overall championship debut would be a solid result, his Jack Sears Trophy campaign was utterly dominant as he would claim 22 out of 30 trophy wins and another three Jack Sears Trophy podiums to seal the trophy in dominant fashion.

2016 would see Cook’s dominant Jack Sears Trophy season rewarded as he would drive in the manufacturer team of MG alongside Ash Sutton, who was making his debut himself. Cook would once more remain consistent by taking points finishes home in two thirds of the races all while taking another two podiums that season with a second place at Donighton Park and a third place at the final event in Brands Hatch. He would end the season with 12th in the standings in a decent result as he pulled the struggling MG 6 GT into positions most couldn’t.

The next year would see him race for two different teams as he would start the year in the Independent entry of Team Parker Racing with Maximum Motorsport. He would continue how he had the two previous years with him taking consistent points paying finishes in seven of the first 12 races, despite a horrid weekend at Thruxton. But a switch back to the manufacturer MG team seemed to be an awful choice as throughout the remainder of the year, he would struggle to score with only a seventh at Croft, a twelfth at Knockhill and a fourth at Rockingham being his only points finishes in the last 18 races.

He would then move to Power Maxed TAG Racing with their Vauxhall Astra for 2018 alongside Senna Proctor. The year would be his most successful yet at he would take his first win in round 4 at Donighton Park. He would follow that up with a second place later that day in race three. While it took him until his fourth season to get his maiden win in the BTCC, it would only take four races to claim his second win as he would win the following race weekend at Thruxton. Cook would take another three podiums that season on his way to finish 6th in the standings.

For 2019, Cook would move once again as a switch to BTC Racing would be his last move for a few years. He would be driving the Honda Civic Type R which is his fifth car in five years. However, that would not affect Cook as he took home the win in the opening race of the season, and by the end of the weekend he would be leading the standings. He would continue to take podiums and a few more wins throughout the year as he would aim for the title. Finishing the year fourth in the standings would be his best year yet all while fighting Rory Butcher for the Independents Title. He would finish 2nd in the Independents title fight only two points behind Butcher.

He would remain with the team for 2020 and would continue to take podiums and wins but a difficult early stage of a condensed season dropped him a number of points and places to end the year 9th in the standings. The following year would be significantly better with Cook winning the opening two races with fastest lap in both. He would then take another three wins across the year with one at Thruxton and two wins at the final round at Brands Hatch. These wins and a further three podiums took him to third in the standings, only three points behind four-time champion Colin Turkington and three points ahead of future champion Tom Ingram.

The early part of 2022 would be one of the best periods for Cook as he would take four wins in five races between Brands Hatch and Thruxton. This would give him a significant lead in the standings over his rivals. But despite consistently claiming points he would drop down to sixth in the standings by the end of the year matching his number of wins from 2021 claiming another four podiums on top of that. However, his strong year would show for the Independents Trophy as he took the Drivers and led his team to the Independents Team Trophy as well.

2023 would be his first winless season since 2017 but would still claim podiums and consistent of points to finish 5th in the standings, one position better than the year previous. He would also go on to take another Independents Championship with the now rebranded One Motorsport team. He would take the title by an even bigger margin than the year prior having taken nearly half the Independents wins that year.

However, One Motorsport announced they would be missing the 2024 season for financial security leaving Cook without a drive for the year. He would then sign with the Speedworks Motorsport Team and run a factory backed Toyota for the year. This would see him return to winning ways and also return to the championship fight. After taking his first podium of the year at round four in Brands Hatch, he would take back-to-back thirds in Snetterton. The win would eventually come at Oulton Park taking fastest lap in the process. He would repeat the feat the following race weekend at Croft before taking another four podiums in the back half of the year. This would leave him mathematically still in the championship fight heading into Brands Hatch but a collision with Ash Sutton at turn 2 on the opening lap of race 1 would put an end to his quest for his title. Finishing the year sixth in the standings over a hundred points ahead of seventh and only a handful of points behind Cammish and Turkington in fifth and fourth.

Heading into 2025 he leaves Toyota to return to One Motorsport and will race once more in the Honda Civic. Cook looks to not just take the Independents Championship once more but also the Overall Championship, with a car that has had a lot of development over the year the teams been away from the sport.