NEWS

The Lamborghini Young Driver Programme is a chance for aspiring professionals to stake their claim to one day becoming an official Factory Driver. Coming out on top in November’s GT3 Junior Driver shootout at Misano Adriatico, is a driver whose talent and expertise belies his tender age of 21.

A race winner and runner-up in last year’s British GT Championship with Barwell Motorsport, Hugo Cook has already amassed a wealth of experience at the wheel of a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 in his relatively short career to date.

But a pair of Spa 24 Hour appearances, two seasons in GT World Challenge Europe and a solid domestic campaign under his belt, means Cook stands out as one of the most promising prospects for the Sant’Agata Bolognese firm ahead of the coming season.

And returning to the national championship in the UK as part of a three-car assault from the Barwell Motorsport squad, the overall title and more race wins are naturally his focus for the 2026 season.

How did it feel to win the GT3 Junior Driver Shootout winner?

It felt really good to win the shootout, it’s such a proud moment for me because you’re up against a lot of good drivers. It was a great event and I really enjoyed myself.

Naturally I wanted to do well in the shootout so I was a bit nervous coming into it, but I had some incline on how it would go so I knew a little bit about what it was going to be like. I’d heard that it was going to be a practice run and then a qualifying simulation, but I didn’t know how many laps it was going to be, how long the race run was. The tyres were also different to what I had been used to before, Hankooks, so that was all about being able to react to different scenarios. It went well and it was very intensive.

What was it like being part of the Young Driver Programme last year and how did you approach the shootout?

It was amazing to be part of such a programme and I really learned a lot from the factory drivers throughout the year, they really are the ones that you learn the most from and it’s useful to be as close to them as you can over the course of the season. I’d had a lot of support from Sandy [Mitchell] in British GT and GTWC and for the shootout it was Marco [Mapelli] and they really listen to what you are saying, and they’ve got so much experience, so their advice is crucial for young drivers.

What are your racing roots; how did you climb the GT racing ladder?

I did a lot of karting with my dad when I was younger, but I didn’t actually start racing competitively until I was about 15. That said, I had driven a lot of times at my local track and got the feel of a car quite early on. Then I was at Anglesey doing a trackday and a friend who I raced against for years, had a TCR car and he asked me if I wanted to do some Britcar events with him and that was it. From then, it was a case of doing more races, I did the Birkett 6 Hour Relay to get my signatures and then ended up moving into GT racing, which my dad had raced for years in the GT Cup. Those cars were really good for my career and learning because they are very pointy so that was a big help.

What is the biggest appeal about endurance racing?

It’s a bit of everything really, so there’s the length of racing which I like, which obviously gives you a lot more time to recover if something goes wrong early in the race. Then, you’ve got two or three other team-mates to share the car with, share the experience too, it’s a big team effort which I like.

How important was last year’s title fight in British GT for your career?

It was a big boost, to be fighting at the front was incredible and taking the win at Oulton Park was a great experience. Obviously, I want to be fighting for the title and taking more race wins this season and it will be good to have a proper pre-season with my co-driver – who missed the first round of the year in 2025 due to injury. I also learned so much from my team-mates last year, Sandy and Patrick [Kujala], they were very tough to match but I felt like I improved so much over the year. And that’s something you want, especially at my age, something to be able to chip away at. Last season went as good as it could have gone, but now we’re aiming for the title.