Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram says he is “over the moon” that he managed to cut down the points deficit to Colin Turkington after a win and a podium at Silverstone.
The 2017 Independents champion only managed 19th in qualifying with 66kg of championship ballast, and opted for the harder compound in race one, salvaging a single point in that race with 15th.
For race two, Ingram was weight-free and his Toyota Avensis scythed through the field from 14th to the victory.
In race three, Ingram lined up seventh just one spot ahead of title rival Colin Turkington, and challenged eventual winner Aiden Moffat for the lead before being forced to defend for second from Turkington.
He told TouringCars.Net it was a tricky race, but a crucial one to keep his title hopes alive by trimming the points deficit to Turkington down further.
“It was a really difficult race because we were wary of the guys around us trying to nip at our heels. And we had to be really on the ball,” said Ingram.
“If we’d had a little bit more of a gap behind Aiden [Moffat] I’d have had a go at Aiden – I felt like we had the pace to be fair. I felt like we could have had another win out of that, but I was more than happy to for the points and to keep Colin behind us and keep it going to Brands.
“We’ve slashed the points down, it was up at 50 after the first race, so it’s on!”
After struggling in free practice and qualifying on Saturday, Ingram admitted he couldn’t have asked for much more out of the weekend.
“I’m over the moon – I don’t think we could have hoped for anything better. We’ve taken the points down a substantial amount – we’ve taken it down to a good amount now.
“Look, we still need some luck on our side. But we’ve done everything we can, it’s just down to a little bit of lady luck now.”