BIDFORD-on-Avon's Power Maxed TAG Racing starred at the second meet of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season at Donington Park.

Their driver Josh Cook claimed a maiden BTCC victory in the opener with a commanding drive from pole position in his Vauxhall Astra with team-mate Senna Proctor eighth.

The outfit head the manufacturers’ standings and teams’ order.

Cook, who went up to third in the championship with a second and seventh place as well, said: “It’s a little bit easier starting from the front.

"I’m over the moon for the guys and everyone who’s put all the hard work in.

"Senna got his last weekend and I needed mine. We were quick and I had to battle for the lead.

"I’m really glad to have brought it home and hopefully it’s the first of many.

"We’ve always had strong pace over the years but there’s been a bit of bad luck perhaps.

"We’ve worked so hard over the winter to make sure we’ve nailed our qualifying set-up and the Vauxhall’s an amazing drive now ­— the best car I’ve driven out of the box and every thanks to my engineers for it.”

Evesham's Rob Austin remains inside the top 10 after scoring points at a tough meet.

The 37-year-old is ninth in the standings for DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing and celebrated his landmark 200th BTCC race.

The Alfa Romeo racer had taken a podium finish at Brands Hatch but endured a tough qualifying session at Donington with 48kg of success ballast.

He battled through from 20th on the grid into 15th in race one and then overcame contact in the second encounter to recover from the tail of the field into 21st position.

From there, Austin gained 10 places in race three to post an event best of 11th.

“It’s been a tough weekend but at least we also have lots of positives to take away as well," said Austin.

“We are not where we want to be with the car at all yet but the potential is clear and I have no doubt that once we get on top of it this will be a regular race winner.

“With a bit more time to analyse the data after qualifying we are confident we know where we went wrong but as we keep saying this is a brand new car so we’re constantly learning with every lap.”

There was also a win apiece for championship leader Tom Ingram (Speedworks Motorsport) and Adam Morgan (Ciceley Motorsport).

There is a three-week break until Sunday, May 20, at Thruxton in Hampshire.