After closing the gap in the overall championship to 42 points, Tom Ingram admitted he was pleased to leave Snetterton closer to standings leader Rob Collard after what he described as a ‘below par’ weekend for both himself and Speedworks Motorsport.
Since claiming the first victory of his career at Brands Hatch back in April, Ingram’s has claimed a further three podium finishes and his high standards of performance have continued to soar, with the KX Academy graduate and BRDC Rising Star already within touching distance of his points total from last season, despite having another twelve rounds left to run in the current campaign.
As potent as ever behind the wheel of the Toyota Avensis, Ingram also topped the recent mid-season Dunlop tyre test at the Norfolk circuit, and managed to place within the top eight runners during both free practice sessions on Saturday, despite reporting some negative changes in the car’s setup.
“We felt really positive about our prospects going to Snetterton after the tyre test, but right from the outset, the car just didn’t feel the same and we’re not sure why,” he commented.
“The Avensis had been awesome during the test, but straightaway in FP1, it was like a totally different animal and we hadn’t changed a thing. The cooler conditions probably played a small part, but I don’t think that fully explained our loss of pace so there was a fair bit of head-scratching going on,”
Ingram was also left ruing a mistake on his fastest lap as he went for a third pole position of the season during the thirty-minute qualifying session on Saturday afternoon, but regardless Ingram continued to be this season’s best qualifier on average, with the 22-year old missing the top three rows just once in six weekends. He lined up fourth, with 33 kilograms of success ballast on board.
“Fourth was far from a bad place to start in the circumstances – it put us ahead of most of the guys directly around us in the championship, while the three drivers in front of us were all carrying less ballast.” admitted the High Wycombe-based racer.
“We were hopeful of being able to push for the podium from there – but unfortunately, that never really happened,”
Issues with the steering during the opening contest hampered Ingram’s progress, but nevertheless he and former mentor Jason Plato gave a stunning demonstration of NGTC machinery at it’s finest on circuit, with Ingram holding Plato behind for the majority of the 12-lap encounter despite the obvious pace of the Subaru Levorg behind, in a fight reminiscent of Rockingham last year.
“Midway through lap two in the first race, I picked up a huge vibration through the steering and we were effectively fighting a losing battle from that point on. I held Jason at bay for as long as I could, but he’s a wily old fox and I could see he was getting increasingly feisty so in the end I decided to let him go rather than risk an accident – and with Sutton suffering a puncture, we didn’t actually lose a position,” said Ingram.
The second race brought more frustration for Ingram, with his clutch leading to a poorer start at the second attempt after the red flags came out for several incidents further down the 31-strong field. Race three would also prove disappointing for Ingram, as a move by Mat Jackson resulted in contact with Adam Morgan’s Mercedes, which in turn sent Ingram across the grass en route to 14th.
“I got a really good start in race two that was undone by the red flag, and having taken a lot out of the clutch first time round, I knew the second one would be somewhat compromised – and sadly, I was proved right.” explained Ingram.
“It turned pretty messy in the early laps, and after getting stuck behind Plato, we didn’t really have the speed to properly attack him. Following some changes, the car felt better in race three and I made another cracking start before the red flag – but at the re-start, exactly the same happened as in race two and then Jackson went for a very ambitious move that ruined our chances,”
After the dust had settled on three chaotic races in Norfolk, Ingram now sits 8th overall in the Drivers standings, level on points with Andrew Jordan in front but behind on virtue of his two retirements, compared with Jordan’s 100% reliability record.
Ingram was in a fairly pragmatic mood when he reflected on how the triple header at Snetterton fits into the wider picture as he chases a first British Touring Car Championship crown.
“Overall, it was a pretty below-par weekend by our recent standards, but in this game, the key is to make the most of those weekends so to come out of it having taken three points finishes and actually closed on the championship lead wasn’t too shabby.”
“Saying that, it was the first time all season that we’ve not really had podium-challenging pace, so we have plenty to go through between now and Knockhill to try to get to the bottom of it and ensure we come back fully on-song – and that’s exactly what we’ll do.”
The series reconvenes at Knockhill over the weekend of 13th-14th August as the BTCC makes it’s annual trip north of the Scottish border.