Paula Cook

Paula Cook (born 2 November 1969) is a British motor 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, Cook began her motor 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. British Formula Renault (becoming the first female ever to achieve a pole position in an international race), followed by three years in the British Formula 3 Championship between 1996 and 1998.

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. She entered once more with DC Cook in 1999, planning to compete in the entire season, the first woman to do so. 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.

In her 20 BTCC race starts, Cook scored three points and two Independents cup race victories.

Later career After the BTCC, Cook raced in the Lotus Elise Championship and the SEAT Cupra Championship. In 2002, she entered a one-off ASCAR race at Rockingham. In 2003, she competed in the SEAT Cupra Championship for the first time, Most recently she has competed in the British GT Championship in 2004, driving the Chevrolet Corvette C5R of the Embassy Racing team. following an outing in the Porsche Supercup.

Personal life Cook was born into a racing family - her father, Derek, was a racing driver in the 1970s. Her brother David also competed in motorsports, and was most notable for winning the 1996 British Formula Renault series. and remaining in charge until the company was liquidated in 2009.

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 THR1 THR2 SIL1 SIL2 DON1 DON2 BRH1 BRH2 OUL1 OUL2 DON1 DON2 CRO1 CRO2 SNE1 SNE2 THR1 THR2 KNO1 KNO2 BRH1 BRH2 OUL1 OUL2 SIL1 SIL2 24th 0 1999 DC Cook Motorsport Honda Accord DON1 DON2 SIL1 SIL2 THR1 THR2 BRH1 BRH2 OUL1 OUL2 DON1 DON2 CRO1 CRO2 SNE1 SNE2 THR1 THR2 KNO1 KNO2 BRH1 BRH2 OUL1 OUL2 SIL1 SIL2 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 GER1 FRA GBR24† 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.