ONE MOTORSPORT CELEBRATE FIRST PODIUM OF THE SEASON AT SNETTERTON
One Motorsport scored a first podium of the season in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Snetterton this past weekend (May 24-25) as Josh Cook produced a charging drive in race three to clinch third place.
Taking centre stage in Norfolk for the third meeting of the 2025 campaign, the Honda Civic Type R squad tallied its first piece of silverware since returning to the UK’s premier motorsport series, as Cook starred in a frenetic reverse grid encounter.
Looking to build on the lessons that were learnt at Donington Park and Brands Hatch, the weekend began with Cook and team-mate Stephen Jelley enduring contrasting fortunes in qualifying on Saturday.
Jelley would frustratingly fall at the first hurdle during a record-breaking session as traffic on his fastest lap meant that he was unable to make it out of Q1. On the other side of the garage, Cook narrowly missed out on the Quick Six but did manage to clinch seventh on the grid.
Both drivers elected to run the less preferable hard tyre for race one and it was a case of damage limitation for Cook as he battled those on the faster soft tyre. Picking his battles over the course of the contest, the multiple race-winner ultimately crossed the line in 11th.
For Jelley, his lowly starting position would see him in the firing line as he was the innocent victim of heavy contact which sadly brought his race to a premature end at the close of the first lap.
Bolting on the soft tyre for race two, both drivers made moves as Cook fought his way up to seventh while Jelley battled forward to finish on the fringes of the points-paying positions.
Cook would miss out on the reverse grid draw but starting seventh on the soft tyre, the two-time Independent Drivers’ champion showed his class as he produced a superb opening few laps to scythe his way up third.
Dicing with multiple champion Ash Sutton for a number of laps, Cook soon settled into a groove and ran relatively untroubled all the way to the chequered flag to claim a deserved first podium of the season.
Further back, Jelley’s weekend would sadly come to an abrupt end as unnecessary contact exiting Oggies on lap one pitched him into the armco barrier, causing substantial damage to his front-wheel-drive machine.
Steve Dudman, Team Owner: “I’m delighted for Josh as that podium was thoroughly deserved, he drove absolutely brilliantly all weekend. I have to say a big thank you to everyone in the team as they have been working incredibly hard, both at the factory and at the circuit.
“We don’t have all the answers we need yet but we’re getting there – as Josh demonstrated in that final race. We’re continuously striving for more and that was proven by some of the new elements that we brought to the car this weekend.
“Stephen simply had another weekend of torrid luck where he was unfortunately caught up in the chaos of the midfield battle. His car has sustained a fair amount of damage but the team are already on it and will have it good to go for Thruxton.”
Stephen Jelley: “It’s been a pretty tough weekend. I got blocked on my fastest lap in qualifying so that put us towards the back of the grid and basically in that danger zone for contact – and we found out all about that on lap one.
“The team did a great job to get the car turned around for race two and the car felt pretty good on the soft tyre. Starting just outside the top 15 I was optimistic that we could end the day on a high but that wasn’t to be as I was basically fired off. It was a pretty big hit in the barrier.
“It’s hugely disappointing as it was unnecessary and has made a right mess of the car. All we can do now is regroup and aim to have a better run of things at Thruxton in just over a weeks’ time.”
Josh Cook: “We haven’t had an ideal start to the season and there are still things we need to improve on but nonetheless I’m pleased to have been able to bring home a podium in race three. It’s a great reward for the hard work the guys and girls have been putting in back at base.
“In race one we made the best of getting the hard tyre out the way and then that allowed us to make some progress in race two. Those first few laps were fraught in race three but once we settled in it was just about bringing it to the finish.
“I’m pleased with my performance in the car and this is a nice bit of momentum to take into Thruxton. We’ll continue to look at optimising every area and see what progress we can make ahead of the next round.”
The 2025 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season continues in less than a fortnight as the series heads to the fastest circuit in the UK, Thruxton, on June 7-8 for Rounds 10, 11 and 12.