Paula Cook is a British auto racing

Auto racing

Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...

 driver. She is best known for her efforts as an independent driver in the British Touring Car Championship

British Touring Car Championship

The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom. The Championship was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and has run to various rules over the years – "production cars", then FIA Group 1 or 2 in the late 1960s...

. She is the daughter of Derek Cook, founder of DC Cook, a large car dealership based in the north of England. Her brother David also competed in motorsports. As well as racing she ran the DC Cook Direct dealership, which went into administration in 2009.

Racing career

Her early career was mainly in single-seater racing. She drove in Formula Vauxhall Junior, British Formula Renault

British Formula Renault Championship

The United Kingdom has two Formula Renault championships: Renault Sport UK's Formula Renault UK championship and the British Automobile Racing Club's BARC Formula Renault championship. Generally, the UK series is recognized as the British Formula Renault.-History:The "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 Three Championship

British Formula Three Championship

The British Formula Three Championship is an international motor racing series that takes place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It is a junior-level feeder formula that uses small single seater Formula Three chassis. Its current official title is...

 between 1996 and 1998. Towards the end of 1998 British Touring Car Championship season

1998 British Touring Car Championship season

The 1998 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship was a prominent BTCC season during the 'golden era' of touring car racing in Britain. It was eventually won by Rickard Rydell in a Volvo S40 with a round to spare. The runner-up was Anthony Reid in a Nissan Primera...

, Cook entered the final four rounds for her fathers DC Cook Motorsport Team in a Honda Accord

Honda Accord

The Honda Accord is a series of compact, mid-size and full-size automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1976, and sold in a majority of automotive markets throughout the world....

. In 1999 she entered the BTCC season from the start. Despite a reasonable start to the year, the season for Cook was cut short after round 16, pulling out of the series with budget problems. After the BTCC she raced in the Lotus Elise Championship and the SEAT Cupra Championship

SEAT Cupra Championship

The SEAT Cupra Championship was a one make series that ran for six years between 2003 and 2008, the last five of which ran as a support package to the British Touring Car Championship. The series will not continue for 2009, due to SEAT UK ending its racing activities...

. Most recently she has competed in the British GT Championship

British GT Championship

The Avon Tyres British GT Championship is a sports car racing series currently based in the United Kingdom, although they have had select races outside of Britain in the past few years. The series was created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and for its first two seasons was called the...

in 2004.