BIDFORD-on-Avon team Power Maxed TAG Racing's Josh Cook secured a podium success in the British Touring Car Championship at Snetterton.

Cook was second in race two after finishing fourth in the first contest not far ahead of Evesham ace Rob Austin in sixth.

The Bidford ace then got seventh in the double-points third race to go fifth in the standings with 157 points.

Team-mate Senna PROCTOR was seventh in race two at the rainy Norfolk circuit.

DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing driver Austin started race one from seventh on his way to sixth in the Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

Although contact from a rival early in race two led to a retirement with damage, Austin hit back in the 60th anniversary Diamond Double race over 60 miles to finish 13th from 25th on the grid despite a damaged radiator and limited power.

He went 16th in the standings on 67 points.

Austin admitted: “I am absolutely convinced we are cursed!

“We had a great car again and were actually a little disappointed to only qualify seventh for the first race.

“We were into the unknown with the wet conditions, the car is set up so differently to the last time we ran in the wet and we weren’t sure how it would perform.

"Matt, our engineer, did a great job and although we didn’t have the pace to hang on to fifth finishing sixth was a decent result.

“Our curse hit us again in race two. We had a great start and got up to third although in the damp conditions on slick tyres we struggled to get the tyre temperature up as quickly as some of those around us.

"I had a good, clean race with (Sam) Tordoff but as we battled the car behind got close enough to smash my rear wheel and break my suspension.

"It’s hard to comprehend how many times this has happened this year with no reprimands handed out by TOCA.

“In the Diamond Double race the curse was in full swing again!

"The first half of the race went well and with a mega start and clearly a very strong car I think sixth would have been achievable.

"Sadly a car in front kicked up a stone and put a hole in the radiator. From then on the engine got hotter and as a result we got slower. In the end it was a relief to hang on to 13th.

“I have never experienced a run of bad fortune like this in my 28 years of racing and it’s blowing my mind at the moment but we clearly have a fast, solid car and we won’t give up. Our fortune will change and when it does we are ready.”

WIX Racing with Eurotech's Jack Goff won race one, Adrian Flux Subaru Racing's Ashley Sutton the second and Halfords Yuasa Racing's Matt Neal the third.