PACES GOES UNREWARDED ON BTCC RETURN FOR ONE MOTORSPORT
One Motorsport showed impressive pace and promise at Donington Park this past weekend (April 26-27) as the Honda Civic Type R squad made its eagerly anticipated return to the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship.
No less than 567 days since the two-time Independent Teams’ champions last competed in the UK’s premier race series, Josh Cook and Stephen Jelley found themselves in the thick of the action on what was a frenetic opening day of the season.
Qualifying on Saturday afternoon saw Cook lead the line for the Brackley-based outfit as he bounced back from an unforeseen engine and transmission change between free practice sessions to post the seventh fastest time; Jelley meanwhile was slightly further back in the pecking order.
Opting for the medium tyre in race one, Cook enjoyed a strong start as the lights went out and ran as high as fifth at one stage before he was the innocent victim of contact from a wayward rival at the final chicane.
Down on power due to a damaged exhaust, Cook managed to hobble to the chequered flag to finish seventh. Unfortunately for Jelley, contact with a tyre stack caused a front left puncture which resulted in him making a trip to the pit lane.
Race two saw Cook bolt on the soft tyre and the 33-year-old duly delivered a scintillating first half of the race as he carved his way up the order into third place, positioning himself firmly on the tail of the top two – who are already established as likely contenders for the coveted crown this year.
In a cruel twist however, Cook would also suffer his own puncture woes as debris on-track split open his front left tyre and left him with a visit to the pits and a finish out of the points. For Jelley, an almighty scrap in the midfield resulted in him making progress into the final points-paying position.
With both cars starting towards the rear of the field for the weekend’s third and final contest, the elbows were out for both drivers as they bid to get as far forward as possible. Cook would finish on the fringes of the top ten while Jelley narrowly missed out on the points.
Steve Dudman, Team Owner: “First and foremost it was great to be back competing again and to welcome back our crew – made up of new and old faces. We went into the weekend in good shape but there were a few scenarios that conspired against us.
“For Josh we had a little left in hand to make the Quick Six and then considering the huge and unnecessary damage he sustained in race one, he did exceptionally well to finish seventh. Sadly a bit of debris or sharp edge on track ended our hopes of a podium in race two but Josh was right in the groove and was taking the fight to Ingram and Sutton.
“Race three saw him show that the potential that he and the car have. Stephen meanwhile performed admirably, completing all three races in the Honda which he needed. It’s clear that he is growing in confidence every time that he’s on-track so I’m sure he will be even stronger at Brands Hatch next time out.”
Stephen Jelley: “It’s been good, it’s been tough and there is a lot of work to do; but I’m coming away feeling really positive. Going into the weekend my goal was to not be too hard on myself, get more familiar with the car and get plenty of mileage under my belt.
“We ticked those boxes and I’ve got more confidence with the Honda – I mean when I tested here the other week I was reluctant going down the Craner Curves and now I’ve just gone three-wide down there.
“Obviously we have some time to find but we’re going in the right direction and hopefully we can make another big step forward at Brands Hatch.”
Josh Cook: “It’s been one of those weekend’s where we could have come away with a little bit more. Qualifying didn’t go to plan and I think we were a little bit lower than we should have been.
“Race one wasn’t too bad, we managed to bring the car home despite a heavy hit and then in race two we picked up a puncture while running third that you just can’t account for.
“The team did a great job in turning the car around for race three and I had a really good balance; I was happy to have made it as far forward as we did. We’ll get our heads down now and see if we can unlock a bit more pace for Brands Hatch.”
The 2025 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season continues in less than two weeks’ time as the series heads to Brands Hatch on May 10-11 for Rounds 4, 5 and 6.