Paula Cook

Paula Cook
Paula Cook
Nationality	British
Born	2 November 1969 (age 55); Rotherham, England
Related to	David Cook; Derek Cook; Jake Cook
British Touring Car Championship
Years active	1998–1999
Teams	DC Cook Motorsport
Starts	20
Wins	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	19th in 1999
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]

In her 20 BTCC race starts, she scored 3 points and 2 Independents cup race victories.

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 the driver led the 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 she completed over 90% of the race distance.

‡ – Guest driver – Not eligible for points.

References

^ "Paula Cook career statistics". Driver Database. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
^ "Paula Cook: Biography". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Famous Cook name returns to Formula Renault with Hillspeed". RenaultSport. 21 February 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
^ ^a ^b "Paula Cook - Driver Profile". BTCC Pages. Archived from the original on 10 October 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
^ "BTCC: Tourist Trophy preview". BTCC.co.uk. 13 October 1997. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
^ "Touring Cars: Reid puts pressure on Rydell". Sunday Mirror. 13 September 1998. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
^ "PAULA COOK IN TORING CAR ACTION". Wirral. 18 March 1999. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
^ "Win VIP day at Touring Cars". WIRRAL Globe. 2 September 1999. Archived from the original on 23 June 2007. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
^ ^a ^b "SEAT Cupra Championship Preview 2003". SEATCupra.net. 15 April 2003. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
^ "Morgan Works Race Team to contest two rounds". Motorsport.com. 24 June 2003. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
^ "BGTCL Silverstone race one notes". Motorsport.com. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
^ Havelock, Steve (21 April 2004). "Portrait of a driver: Paula Cook". The Telegraph. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
^ "Paula Cook Joins Morgan Works Race Team". Carpages. 21 June 2003. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
^ "Derek Cook career statistics". Driver Database. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
^ "Car dealer dies in motoring crash". BBC. 3 May 2005. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
^ "DC Cook companies to be liquidated". AM Online. 9 January 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2013.

[driverdb-1] "Paula Cook career statistics". Driver Database. Retrieved 13 April 2013.

[ss-2] "Paula Cook: Biography". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 13 April 2013.

[rs-3] "Famous Cook name returns to Formula Renault with Hillspeed". RenaultSport. 21 February 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2013.

[btccp-4] "Paula Cook - Driver Profile". BTCC Pages. Archived from the original on 10 October 2008. 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. Archived from the original on 23 June 2007. Retrieved 13 April 2013.

[sc-9] "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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