Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram has confidence in the race pace of his Toyota Avensis, after he was left disappointed with ninth position in qualifying for the first round of the 2018 British Touring Car Championship.
The defending Independents champion had topped the opening practice session of the weekend, and told TouringCars.net the team had struggled with car setup.
“We’ve just struggled with the car all day really,” said Ingram. “We haven’t quite had it hooked up to where we need it to be.
“Obviously all 30 of the drivers would have wanted to be on pole as well, so we’re slightly disappointed.
“We’ve struggled, but we’re still in the mix.”
Ingram posted a time of 48.257s, earning him a starting position just inside the top ten.
Despite obvious frustration, he believes a focus on long-run pace throughout winter testing will pay dividends.
“We know that we don’t necessarily have the fastest car over one lap,” he says. “But the work we’ve been doing over the winter has been on race pace so I’m quietly confident we’ll be OK for the races.”
With the circuit looking damp ahead of today’s races, Ingram is hoping for either fully wet or fully dry races later on.
“As long as it does one or the other, I think everybody will be happy.
“It’s just when it does this whole horrible mixed last mnute drizzle that buggers everybody about.
“But obviously it is Brands Hatch so you never know, but it’s the same for everyone.”