POINTS APLENTY FOR ONE MOTORSPORT AT BRANDS HATCH
One Motorsport showed its fighting spirit in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship this past weekend (May 10-11) as the team battled forward on race day to tally a brace of top-six finishes at Brands Hatch.
Taking centre stage at a sun-drenched Kent venue for the second meeting of the 2025 season, Josh Cook led the line for the Honda Civic Type R squad as he clinched two sixth place drives while team-mate Stephen Jelley chalked up a pair of points finishes.
Aiming to build on the season-opener at Donington Park, Saturday’s running around the 1.208-mile Indy circuit proved to be frustrating for the two-time Independent Teams’ champions as both Cook and Jelley struggled for pace in their front-wheel-drive machines throughout practice.
Come qualifying, Jelley would fair the better out of the two drivers as he progressed into Q2 before settling for 12th while Cook – who was in arguably the tougher of the two Q1 groups – could only manage 17th overall.
On race day, both drivers would score points in the opening encounter as Jelley scrapped in the midfield to finish 14th and Cook – who was celebrating a milestone 300th race in the UK’s premier motorsport series – moved forward to 15th on the less favourable hard tyre.
Race two proved to be one of attrition for both drivers as they found themselves in the thick of the action from the get-go. Despite the safety car making two appearances, Cook and Jelley showcased their overtaking prowess on the soft tyre to move forward through the pack.
For Cook it was at times a matter of survival as several bouts of contact between rivals paved the way for him to charge up to sixth come the chequered flag. Jelley meanwhile narrowly missed out on breaking into the top ten.
The reverse grid draw placed Cook on the second row of the grid for the final race of the day however a sluggish start meant that the multiple race winner dropped down the order during the opening exchanges.
After several laps of bringing his soft tyres into their operating window, the front-wheel-drive ace was soon a man on a mission as he fought back to finish sixth. Further back, Jelley fought valiantly on the hard tyre to maintain his 100% finishing record.
Leaving Brands Hatch, the team remain within striking distance of the Independent Teams’ Championship summit while both drivers are not too far away from the top of the Independent Drivers’ Championship.
Steve Dudman, Team Owner: “It’s been another challenging weekend but like Donington Park, there are plenty of lessons that we are able to learn from. Everyone in the team is working extremely hard and the feeling is we are moving in the right direction.
“Josh endured a difficult Saturday but managed to fight back on the soft tyre in races two and three. I think had he not bogged down at the start then we may well have been able to fight for the podium places.
“On the other side of the garage Stephen made more progress and is continuing to get to grips with the car. To score five out of six points finishes is an encouraging step and something to build on heading into the next event.”
Stephen Jelley: “There are some real positives and of course a few frustrations to take away from the weekend. I’ve got to keep reminding myself that I’m new to this car so the results aren’t going to come straight away.
“That being said, qualifying on Saturday was good and we managed to improve the car across races one and two while on the soft tyre. I made a slight error on the hard tyre in race three but we can learn from that and make sure we come back stronger next time out at Snetterton.”
Josh Cook: “It was a tough race day and the results aren’t what we wanted but there are positives to take in terms of the balance that we’ve found with the car. On that basis I’m pretty pleased with what we’ve been able to develop and understand.
“Saturday was challenging and I basically had two car crews working on my car until the early hour of race day so a big thank you to all of them. It was a typical BTCC race day but we managed to come out of it with two top six finishes; now it’s about going forward at Snetterton.”
The 2025 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season continues in less than a fortnight as the series heads to Snetterton in Norfolk on May 24-25 for Rounds 7, 8 and 9.