Brendon Cook
Brendon John Cook (born 27 December 1970) is a former race driver who raced mainly in Australia, but also in Europe.
| Brendon Cook | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Australian |
| Full name | Brendon John Cook |
| Born | 27 December 1970 Belmont, New South Wales, Australia |
| Previous series | |
| 1989,96 1990 1991/92 1995-96 1998 2002 2003 2004 2005-07 2009 2011-12 2011 2013 | British Formula Ford Championship Swiss Formula 3 Championship AUSCAR Formula Ford EFDA Nations Cup Australian Formula 2 Championship Australian Mitsubishi Mirage Cup Australian MG Trophy Australian Production Cars Australian Mini Challenge Australian Suzuki Swift Series Australian Manufacturers' Championship Australian GT Championship |
| Awards | |
| 2002 | Australian Formula 2 Rookie of the Year |
Career edit
Open wheelers edit
Cook began racing at the age of 16 in Karts, where he won club titles, and then moved into Formula Ford in Britain. He raced four times in the British Junior series, which ran the same races as the outright series, but for different points. The highlight for him would have been out qualifying eventual Formula One driver David Coulthard. After an unsuccessful season of Formula 3 in Switzerland in 1990, he returned to Australia and competed in various club racing including Formula Ford, AUSCAR, HQ Holdens and Karts. He made a brief return to Europe in 1996 for British Formula Ford and 1998 to compete in one round of the Benelux Formula Opel series and the EFDA Nations Cup in the Netherlands.[1] In 2002 he ran in the Australian Formula Two Championship[2][3][4][5][6] where he finished eighth and took out the Rookie of the Year award. He returned for one race in 2011 in the Formula R class at Eastern Creek in a Reynard 913[7] and the 2011 Asian Formula Renault Challenge but didn't start after an accident in qualifying. In October 2011 he raced in the final two rounds of the Thoroughbred Grand Prix series driving a Tyrrell 012.
Sedan racing edit
Season 1995 saw an introduction to production cars in the Eastern Creek 12 Hour, but a blown head gasket saw them not start. He ventured to the Nurburgring 24 Hour in a Peugeot in 1996, but did not finish. From there he moved to the Australian Mitsubishi Mirage series and competed in the Bathurst 2-hour race finishing 3rd in Class B.[8] 2004–05 he raced a Citroën Xsara in the NSW Combined Touring Car Championship, winning the state championship in his class. He raced a BMW in the 2006,[9] and a Holden Vectra in the 2007[10][11][12] Australian Production Car Championship. 2009 saw him join the Bargwanna Motorsport[13] team in the Australian Mini Challenge.[14][15][16][17][18][19]
2011 he raced in the final round of the Australian Suzuki Swift Series after practicing at the Eastern Creek and Sandown rounds without racing. He also participated in the Eastern Creek 6-hour, crashing out with two hours to go whilst leading Class E with co-driver Brooke Leech.[20] He rejoined the series in 2012 for the fourth round at Sydney Motorsport Park finishing sixth for the weekend. In 2013 he raced in the GT Challenge class of the Australian GT Championship driving a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup. He finished 2nd in the championship.
Stock car racing edit
He joined the AUSCAR ranks in season 1991/92 after being a finalist in the Fastrack Driver Program. In the summer of 2006, he returned the ranks of Street Stockers, running at Parramatta City Speedway over the 2006–2007 season. The summer of 2010 he ventured in a part season in mainly in New South Wales.[21] In 2011-2013 he tried to break into American speedway by running in selected factory stock events with limited success.
Career results edit
Karting career summary edit
| Season | Series | Team | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | SKRC vs CDKC Clubman Kart Challenge | BCM | 1st |
| 2003 | Eastern Creek 4 Hour | Pro Visual | 2nd |
| 2004 | Eastern Creek 4 Hour | Novo Liquor | 4th |
Circuit results edit
| Season | Series | Position | Car | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | British Formula Ford Championship | NC | Van Diemen RF87 – Ford | Harvey Gillanders Racing |
| 1990 | Swiss Formula 3 Championship | 12th | Ralt RT23 – Alfa Romeo | Jo Zeller Racing |
| 1991 | CCCC Formula Libre Championship | 1st | Van Diemen RF85 – Ford | BCM |
| 1993 | NSW HQ Holden Series | 18th | HQ Holden | BCM |
| 1994 | NSW HQ Holden Series | 8th | HQ Holden | BCM |
| CCCC Club Car Championship | 1st | |||
| 1995 | New South Wales Formula Ford Championship | 9th | Van Diemen RF85 – Ford | Peter Finlay Racing |
| NSW Formula Ford Hillclimb Championship | 1st | |||
| 1996 | Australian Formula Ford Hillclimb Championship | 3rd | Van Diemen RF85 – Ford | Peter Finlay Racing |
| British Formula Ford Championship | NC | Martlet DM6 – Ford | 3 Sisters | |
| 1998 | EFDA Nations Cup | 4th † | Van Diemen – Opel | Team Australia |
| 2002 | Australian Formula Two Championship | 8th | Cheetah Mk7-Golf | BAE Racing |
| 2003 | Australian Mitsubishi Mirage Cup | 12th | Mitsubishi Mirage RS | Mal Rose Racing |
| 2004 | Australian MG Trophy | 5th | MG F Trophy | Mopro |
| NSW Combined Touring Championship Class C | 1st | Citroën Xsara VTS | Fortec Motorsport | |
| 2005 | NSW Combined Touring Championship Class E | 3rd | Citroën Xsara VTS | On Track Motorsport |
| 2006 | NSW Combined Touring Championship Class E | 2nd | Citroën Xsara VTS | On Track Motorsport |
| Australian Production Cars - Trophy Class | 12th | BMW 323i | ||
| 2007 | Australian Production Cars - Trophy Class | 5th | Holden Vectra | Mertens Racing |
| 2009 | Australian Mini Challenge | 7th | Mini JCW R56 | Bargwanna Motorsport |
| 2011 | Australian Suzuki Swift Series | 14th | Suzuki Swift Sport RS | Trans-Tasman Motorsport |
| 2012 | Australian Suzuki Swift Series | 15th | Suzuki Swift Sport RS | Trans-Tasman Motorsport |
| 2013 | Australian GT Challenge | 2nd | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | McElra Racing |
† Team Result
Speedway results edit
| Season | Series | Position | Car | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991/2 | Australian AUSCAR Championship | 22nd | Holden Commodore (VN) | Fastrack |
| 2006/7 | PCR Street Stock Championship | 26th | Holden Commodore (VS) | BCM |
| 2007 | RSA Australian Street Stock Championship | 43rd[22] | Holden Commodore (VS) | BCM |
| 2010/11 | Tyrepower Sydney Speedway Wingless Sprint Championship | 38th | Gambler Holden | Fortec |
| 2011 | New South Wales Tri-Series Wingless Sprint Championship | 40th | Gambler Holden | Fortec |
| Arklatex Speedway Factory Stock Championship | 18th[23] | Oldsmobile Cutlass | Shreveport Racing | |
| 2012 | Arklatex Speedway Factory Stock Championship | 51st[24] | Oldsmobile Cutlass | Shreveport Racing |
| 2013 | Boothill Speedway Factory Stock Championship | 2nd[25] | Oldsmobile Cutlass | Shreveport Racing |
| Arklatex Speedway Factory Stock Championship | 11th[26] |
Australian GT results edit
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | McElrea Racing | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | GT Challenge | ADE | ADE | PHI | PHI | WIN | WIN | SMP | SMP | PHI | PHI | SUR 2 | SUR 3 | HOM | HOM | NC | 0 |
| 2013 | McElrea Racing | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | GT Challenge | BAT DNS | ADE 3 | ADE 3 | PHI 2 | PHI Ret | SMP 1 | SMP 1 | QLD 1 | QLD 1 | HMP Ret | HMP DNS | 2nd | 460 | |||
Rugby edit
Cook played both rugby league and rugby union in his early years as a utility back. Starting in league he represented Group 3 and Central Coast Juniors before going to Barker College and playing seven years of union there where he also became a certified referee. After leaving Barker, he played for Singleton Pirates, representing NSW Country Under 21s in 2 games off the bench in 1989 thanks to his family ties with Phil Hawthorne, before leaving for Europe. In 1990 after returning from Europe, he played for Sydney University Colts and at the end of 1990 Oak Bay Castaways-Wanderers in Canada. At the end of the 1992 season he switched to rugby league playing in the 1992 Pacific Cup for Norfolk Island. In 2005 he played a season in Manawatu, New Zealand.[27] He retired from rugby after a knee injury.
Personal life edit
Cook's parents were hotel owners, and he and his four sisters had a nomadic lifestyle. Thus he went to boarding school at Barker College and then Sydney University. He is married (2001), has one son (2004) and a daughter (2007) and now lives in the Brisbane suburb of The Gap. His father is John Cook. He is also a member of the Wiradjuri people.[citation needed]
References edit
- ^ http://www.driverdb.com/standings/1633-1998/ Retrieved Driver Data Base 18 May 2011
- ^ Retrieved 10 March 2002 from Motorsport.com
- ^ Retrieved 12 March 2002 from Motorsport.com
- ^ Retrieved 12 March 2002, from Motorsport.com
- ^ Retrieved 12 Sept, 2002 from Motorsport.com
- ^ Retrieved 12 Sept, 2002 from Motorsport.com
- ^ "Retrieved 20 June 2011 Natsoft Timing". Natsoft.com.au. 21 June 2009. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ "Retrieved 23 Nov, 2003 from". Natsoft. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ . Nmd.com.au. 4 September 2006. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ . Nmd.com.au. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ . Nmd.com.au. 17 July 2007. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ . Nmd.com.au. 6 August 2007. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ . Archived from the original on 26 June 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Retrieved from Motorsports Media 3/5/2011 - ^ Retrieved March 2009 from Mini Challenge Web Page
- ^ . Nmd.com.au. 25 March 2009. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ . Nmd.com.au. 7 July 2009. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ . Speedcafe.com. 20 October 2009. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ . Speedcafe.com. 8 December 2009. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ . Thegrid.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ http://www.speedcafe.com/2011/12/11/mostertmorcom-take-eastern-creek-6-hour/ Speedcafe. 11 December 2011
- ^ "Retrieved from Natsoft Timing 25 April 2011". Natsoft.com.au. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?05/05/2007.PCR.STREET.M 2007 RSA Australian Street Stock Championship Retrieved 17 May 2011
- ^ http://www.arklatexspeedway.net/Pointstandings/FactoryStockPoints05-14-2011.htm Arklatex Speedway Points 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2014
- ^ http://www.arklatexspeedway.com/Pointstandings/FactoryStockPoints05-19-2012.htm Arklatex Speedway Points 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2013
- ^ . Archived from the original on 24 August 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2013. Boothill Pointscore 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013
- ^ http://www.arklatexspeedway.net/Pointstandings/FactoryPoints09-21-2013.htm Arklatex Pointscore 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013
- ^ http://www.itsrugby.co.uk/player-4406.html Its Rugby player stats. Retrieved 20 December 2013
External links edit
- Brendon Cook career summary at DriverDB.com
- YouTube interview
- Brendon Cook at ItsRugby.co.uk
- Brendon Cook at CricketArchive (subscription required)