A new team will take to the Renault UK Clio Cup grid next season, with Team Cooksport planning to field as many as four cars in the BTCC support series.
While the ‘Team Cooksport’ banner is new, the squad behind it have extensive experience in tin-top competition. As well as running cars in Stock Hatch and the Production Touring Car Trophy, they have been the engineering team behind Josh Cook’s recent run in the Clio Cup, leading him to the Rookie Cup in 2012 and the overall vice-champion honours this season.
The outfit will operate from new premises in Bristol under the leadership of Josh’s father Chris Cook. While Josh himself won’t race for the team, the 23 year old will be on hand to support the team’s drivers with his knowledge from three years of Clio racing.
“We’re planning on running a three to four car team,” explains Cook, “I won’t be racing as part of it myself, I’m still moving my own racing career forward in other ways, but my father [Chris Cook] will be managing the Clio team and we’ll have the same engineers who were working with me this year.
“We’ve already got a new lorry and new premises in Bristol, we’re just off the M32 so it’s a good location and very accessible. Obviously we have the car I raced this year, which we’ll be renting out, and we’re already talking to a few drivers – some experienced Clio racers and some newcomers.”
As well as supporting the team’s drivers on-track during testing and race weekends, Cook also hopes to pass on the off-track knowledge and experience he gained this year as part of the KX Akademy.
“I learnt a lot this year as part of the KX Akademy and that’s a big part of what we want to do with the team, help guys progress by passing on experience about everything you need to do off track, such as the media work and sponsorship side, as well as on track,” he added.
