Paula Cook

Paula Cook
Nationality British
Born (1969-11-02) 2 November 1969
Rotherham, England
Related to David Cook
Derek Cook
Jake Cook
Previous series
2004
2003
2003
2003
2003
2002
2000
1998-99
1997
1995-98
1995
1994
1994		 British GT Championship
FIA GT Championship
SEAT Cupra Championship
Porsche Supercup
SEAT Cupra Superprix
ASCAR
Lotus Elise Championship
British Touring Car Championship
RAC Tourist Trophy
British Formula 3 Championship
British Formula Renault
Formula Vauxhall Junior Winter Series
Formula Vauxhall Junior

Paula Cook (born 2 November 1969) is a British auto racing driver. She is best known as an independent driver in the British Touring Car Championship competing for the family-run DC Cook Motorsports. She ran the family-owned DC Cook Direct dealership after her father's death in 2005 until its closure in 2009.

Racing career

Early career

Born in Rotherham,[1] Cook began her auto racing career in 1994, when she competed in both the Formula Vauxhall Junior and Formula Vauxhall Junior Winter Series championships, finishing second overall in the latter.[2] British Formula Renault (becoming the first female ever to achieve a pole position in an international race),[3] followed by three years in the British Formula 3 Championship between 1996 and 1998.[4] In 1997, she drove for the works Nissan team in the RAC Tourist Trophy.[5]

BTCC

Towards the end of 1998 British Touring Car Championship season, Cook entered the final four rounds for her father's DC Cook Motorsport Team in a Honda Accord.[6] She entered once more with DC Cook in 1999, planning to compete in the entire season, the first woman to do so.[7] However, despite a reasonable start to the year, the season for Cook was cut short after round 16, after her team pulled out of the series due to financial difficulties.[8]

Later career

After the BTCC she raced in the Lotus Elise Championship and the SEAT Cupra Championship.[4] In 2002, she entered a one-off ASCAR race at Rockingham.[9] In 2003, she competed in the SEAT Cupra Championship for the first time,[9] before later entering two races for the Morgan Works Race Team in the FIA GT Championship,[10] Most recently she has competed in the British GT Championship in 2004, driving the Chevrolet Corvette C5R of the Embassy Racing team.[11][12] following an outing in the Porsche Supercup.[13]

Personal life

Paula was born into a racing family - her father, Derek, was a racing driver in the 1970s.[14] Her brother David also competed in motorsports, and was most notable for winning the 1996 British Formula Renault series.[3] In addition to this, her nephew, Jake, entered the 2013 Formula Renault UK series, with Paula employed as his manager.[3] She helped run the family-owned DC Cook Direct dealership franchise, taking over the company following the death of her father in a car crash in 2005,[15] and remaining in charge until the company was liquidated in 2009.[16]

Racing record

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position - 1 point awarded all races) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (* signifies that driver lead feature race for at least one lap - 1 point awarded)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Pos Pts
1998 DC Cook Motorsport Honda Accord THR
1
 THR
2
 SIL
1
 SIL
2
 DON
1
 DON
2
 BRH
1
 BRH
2
 OUL
1
 OUL
2
 DON
1
 DON
2
 CRO
1
 CRO
2
 SNE
1
 SNE
2
 THR
1
 THR
2
 KNO
1
 KNO
2
 BRH
1
 BRH
2
 OUL
1
16		 OUL
2
13		 SIL
1
16		 SIL
2
12		 24th 0
1999 DC Cook Motorsport Honda Accord DON
1
14		 DON
2
Ret		 SIL
1
Ret		 SIL
2
9		 THR
1
Ret		 THR
2
13		 BRH
1
10		 BRH
2
Ret		 OUL
1
Ret		 OUL
2
Ret		 DON
1
15		 DON
2
13		 CRO
1
14		 CRO
2
13		 SNE
1
Ret		 SNE
2
14		 THR
1
 THR
2
 KNO
1
 KNO
2
 BRH
1
 BRH
2
 OUL
1
 OUL
2
 SIL
1
 SIL
2
 19th 3

Complete Porsche Supercup results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points
2003 Tolimit Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3 ITA1 ESP AUT MON
Ret		 GER1 FRA GBR
24†		 GER2 HUN ITA2 USA1 USA2 NC‡ 0‡

† — Did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

‡ – Guest driver – Not eligible for points.

References

  1. ↑ "Paula Cook career statistics". Driver Database. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  2. ↑ "Paula Cook: Biography". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 "Famous Cook name returns to Formula Renault with Hillspeed". RenaultSport. 21 February 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Paula Cook - Driver Profile". BTCC Pages. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  5. ↑ "BTCC: Tourist Trophy preview". BTCC.co.uk. 13 October 1997. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  6. ↑ "Touring Cars: Reid puts pressure on Rydell.". Sunday Mirror. 13 September 1998. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "PAULA COOK IN TORING CAR ACTION". Wirral. 18 March 1999. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  8. ↑ "Win VIP day at Touring Cars". WIRRAL Globe. 2 September 1999. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  9. 1 2 "SEAT Cupra Championship Preview 2003". SEATCupra.net. 15 April 2003. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  10. ↑ "Morgan Works Race Team to contest two rounds". Motorsport.com. 24 June 2003. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  11. ↑ "BGTCL Silverstone race one notes". Motorsport.com. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  12. ↑ Havelock, Steve (21 April 2004). "Portrait of a driver: Paula Cook". The Telegraph. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  13. ↑ "Paula Cook Joins Morgan Works Race Team". Carpages. 21 June 2003. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  14. ↑ "Derek Cook career statistics". Driver Database. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  15. ↑ "Car dealer dies in motoring crash". BBC. 3 May 2005. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  16. ↑ "DC Cook companies to be liquidated". AM Online. 9 January 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
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