COOK STORMS TO EIGHTH WIN OF SEASON AT ROCKINGHAM
Jake Cook went back to the top of the Ginetta Junior Championship with Henderson Insurance driver standings at Rockingham in Northamptonshire yesterday Saturday, 19th September, after securing his eighth win of the year in relatively dominant style.
Although initially it looked as though the TJ Motorsport racer would be challenged by chief title rival Sarah Moore, as soon as Cook managed to break away on the second lap he was never headed and won the 17th round of the season on lap eight by over three seconds.
Added to the two bonus points he achieved for securing pole position for both of this weekend’s races at the 1.94-mile International Super Sports Car Circuit, the 35 points he received for today’s win has enabled Rotherham-based Cook to open-up an 11 point cushion in the championship with just three rounds now remaining.
Speaking after round 17, the new series leader said: “Sarah (Moore) got a really good start but as soon as I got back into the lead on the second lap I managed to build a gap and then maintain it over Chris (Swanwick) towards the end. My whole family has been giving me a lot of support so I’m really pleased to get another good result for them. It’s great to get another win.”
At the start, Moore made the best start from second on the grid to edge ahead of Cook on the run through the banked Turn 1 of the famous Rockingham Oval with Mitchell Hale holding third place. Behind, Chris Swanwick leapt up the order into the top four from seventh on the grid while the reverse was true for Carl Stirling – a very sluggish getaway dropping him out of the top six.
As the front-runners headed through Deene Hairpin, Cook managed to nose ahead of Moore but on the exit she battled back and opened up an advantage of three 10ths of a second into the second tour. Cook moved back ahead though into Deene for the second time and the pass also gave Hale the opportunity to go through into second place with Swanwick seizing third spot at Yentwood.
Dropping from the lead to fourth position in just two corners, Moore had it all to do but stuck with the top three as Tom Howard also started to come into the picture by latching on to the tail of the championship’s lead female racer.
Cook immediately started to pull clear of the rest and by the start of lap three his lead over Hale was up to a second. Although the gap did fluctuate over the course of the next three or four laps, Cook looked comfortable at the front and he took the chequered flag by 3.3 seconds in the end.
The fight over the two remaining podium places was intense with Swanwick moving past Hale on lap three at Deene. Into lap four, Hale then came under pressure for third from Moore but her decision to run on the high line around the banking between Turn 1 and the first hairpin didn’t work out and she slipped to fifth behind Howard.
On lap six, a moment for Hale dropped him out of contention for a podium finish and a further slip on the final tour meant the Tollbar racer ended up a disappointing ninth after showing great pace and promise for the majority of the outing.
Nothing further changed at the front over the remaining couple of laps with Swanwick taking second place – equalling his previous best finish of the season – by just two 10ths of a second from Howard, the latter enjoying a long overdue return to the podium having last climbed the rostrum at Brands Hatch during the opening race meeting of the year.
Moore finished fourth ahead of her younger sibling David and she also posted the fastest lap on the final tour to get a crucial extra championship point – her lap of 1m39.855 seconds (69.94mph) just two 100ths of a second outside Tom Carnaby’s existing Rockingham lap record.
Pippa Coleman rounded out the top six while championship front-runners Aaron Williamson and Alex Austin each endured a tough outing. Williamson could only manage 10th place while Austin had to pit for a new left-rear tyre on lap three and eventually finished in 13th position.
Speaking after round 17, Swanwick said: “We had some problems in testing with the car but the team worked unbelievably hard through the night on Friday and today it’s been good. It’s great to be back on the podium.”
Howard, delighted to be back on the Ginetta Junior rostrum, commented: “We’ve had some unlucky rounds but it’s good to be back on the podium. I messed up my start, dropped to about seventh, but then got back to third which was good.”
Round 18 of the Ginetta Junior Championship with Henderson Insurance is timetabled to take place at 14.45 this afternoon, Sunday, 20th September, and will be broadcast live across the UK on Freeview, cable and digital satellite channel ITV4. Cook will start on pole position ahead of Sarah Moore, Hale, Howard, Coleman and Austin.
Provisional 2009 Ginetta Junior Championship with Henderson Insurance Positions (after Rd17):1st Jake Cook, 394pts; 2nd Sarah Moore, 383pts; 3rd Aaron Williamson, 355pts; 4th Alex Austin, 333pts; 5th Chris Swanwick, 277pts; 6th Tom Howard, 263pts
