The Story
MG Racing’s line up was one of the most inexperienced on the grid this season but it was also one with the most excitement. The reigning Jack Sears Trophy winner Josh Cook and the 2015 Clio Cup champion Ashley Sutton. Between them they had only a single year BTCC experience, but right from the start they proved themselves stars of the future.
Sutton was keen to prove himself worthy of his BTCC seat, taking a fifth place in the first qualifying session of the year. Not to be outshone by his younger team mate, Cook took sixth, starting alongside the rookie. Both made up a single place in the opening race, but a difficult second half of the weekend meant that would be their best performance in the season opener.
The Clio Cup champion’s first pole position would come in the following weekend. It was hardly ideal conditions, with changing weather and a red flag breaking up the session, but MG Racing managed a 1-2 in qualifying, with Cook started alongside his team mate.
Donington Park wouldn’t see Sutton’s first win, though. A disappointing start meant Sutton would fall out of the lead of the race. Cook managed to keep his position, finishing the race second to take the team’s first podium of the year.
That would be the team’s last podium for a while.
The middle part of the season was a difficult time for the Triple Eight Racing duo. Thruxton saw the start of the trouble. Qualifying wasn’t quite as perfect as Donington, but Cook and Sutton both made good starts in an attempt to move up through the field. It would all be for nothing, though, as neither driver finished the race. Sutton’s race ended on the second lap, crashing into the tyre wall to take his first retirement of his BTCC career. Cook lasted a little long, battling at the sharp end of the field. It was exactly the wrong place to be at the end of the race, though, as Cook became mixed up in the multi-car pile up that ended the race.
Both drivers were ok, their cars fixable before the second race, but it made for a difficult starting position for race two. By the end of the weekend they were able to climb up to fourth (Cook) and fifth (Sutton), but the disastrous start to the weekend meant it was a small points haul for the team.
The following weekend would be a mixed weekend for the team. Though neither driver would see the fantastic results they had earlier in the season, Cook took three top ten finishes whilst Sutton only took four points from the weekend.
It was almost the opposite way around the following weekend at Croft. A tough qualifying for the weekend meant he would start way back in eighteenth, but Sutton managed a third for race one. He would hold the position during the race, taking third and his first BTCC podium. For most, that alone would be a huge achievement, but the third place was soon outshone by a win in the final race of the weekend.
That would be Sutton’s last trip to the podium this season. The following two weekends would be disappointing for both drivers and, though things picked up a little towards the end of the season, the MG duo would never quite see the performance they had at the beginning of the seasons.
There were moments of excellence, including a pole for Sutton at Silverstone and a third for Cook at Brands Hatch, but the team would ultimately end up more than a hundred and fifty points behind their nearest rivals in the constructors championship.
Still, the fantastic start to the year and the moments of brilliance towards the end of the year proved both drivers are potential future stars. Ashley Sutton took the Jack Sears trophy for best rookie, with eighteen rookie wins throughout the season.
The Stats
Qualifying Positions
Finishing Positions
Position Changes
Image Credit: Caroline Rhea
