Power Maxed Racing’s strong form continued at the third meeting of the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Thruxton. The weekend was packed full of incidents, but the team bagged points from all three races and Josh Cook was awarded the Jack Sears Trophy.
Dave Newsham made up several places at the very start of race one, but his race was ended prematurely when his rear control arm was damaged during a manoeuvre on Warren Scott.
Josh Cook got off the line but lost traction and dropped to 12th. Determined as ever, Josh set to it and worked his way back to 9th setting some blistering lap times in the process.
Cook had a good start to race two, putting him right in the mix, but Adam Morgan and Andy Priaulx tagged on the first corner, the cars behind, including Cook scattered onto the grass to avoid a collision. Cook collected a Dunlop advertising hoarding on the grass and was forced to pit to have it removed. Cook re-joined the race in 22nd but worked his way up to 18th with some great overtakes.
Newsham got a cracking start from the back, making it up 16th by lap two. He continued his charge through the field, going on to finish 12th, a gain of 13 places from his starting position.
Cook had a storming first lap in race three before clipping the back of his team-mate’s car causing him to fall back to 18th. A safety car on lap eight binched the field back up and on the restart Newsham charged hard to finish 12th and Cook in 9th.
Dave Newsham commented, “It’s definitely a weekend of mixed fortunes as we had cracking pace throughout. Our pace was evident as I’ve gained nearly 20 places via overtakes throughout the races this weekend.
“I appreciate Josh’s contact with me was an accident, this won’t change the way we work together, it’s been great so far, and it will continue that way for the rest of the season I’m sure.”
Josh Cook commented, “It’s been great to win the Jack Sears Trophy for the second round in succession, a true credit to the team who have been on the ball as always. The weekend has not gone to plan as I took a trip across the grass in race two, managing to save the car but that cost grid places and I also had a coming together with my teammate Dave in race 3.”
Cook reflected, “I would like to say how sorry I am to Dave for the incident in race 3, I was passing Aiden Moffat and fighting for position when I clipped the back of Dave, he controlled it beautifully but it cost him six places and that is just not right. There is nothing worse than contact with your teammate, Dave and I have a great relationship and I want that to continue.
Adam Weaver, Team Principal, Power Maxed Racing commented, “It’s good to see how well we are going in our third ever race meeting. Our pace was well within the top ten, yes we have had more than our fair share of incidents, but that is racing. Between Dave’s blistering pace in qualifying and Josh’s continued Jack Sears Trophy wins, it’s payback for doing things right.”
The Jack Sears Trophy is awarded to the Independent driver who achieves the greatest improvement from their respective grid positions over the entire season.
