Tom Ingram enjoys ‘very successful weekend’ at Donington Park

A trio of second-place finishes was a ‘really strong way to kick the season off’ according to Tom Ingram in the opening weekend of the British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park.

Ingram got his bed for a second BTCC title under way with a solid weekend at the Leicestershire circuit. Having topped both practice sessions on Saturday, Ingram then qualified his Hyundai in third just 0.031 seconds from pole, lamenting a Q3 red flag which interrupted his plans for pole.

In the opening race, Ingram passed NAPA Racing UK’s Dan Cammish into the Old Hairpin for second just before the mid-distance, but with a mid-race safety car allowing leader Ash Sutton to cool his soft tyres, Ingram had to settle for second.

The 31-year-old followed Sutton home again in race two, securing more crucial championship points, and was randomly selected to start from fifth in the final reverse-grid race.

On the faster but more fragile soft tyres, Ingram was up to fourth past Cammish on the opening lap, before swiftly dispatching Jake Hill for third on the next tour.

It took him a further three laps to prise the door open on Daniel Rowbottom for second at Redgate corner, by which time Team Vertu team-mate Tom Chilton was in a comfortable lead.

Ingram had to fend off late-race pressure from Sutton for second, including briefly losing the place on the final lap, but he did so to complete a hat-trick of second place finishes.

It means Ingram leaves the opening weekend second in the drivers’ standings, seven points shy of Sutton.

“That was a fairly successful weekend all-in-all – very ‘pointsy’ with a lot of enjoyable, tough racing – and we were really strong throughout,” said Ingram.

“Being quickest in both free practice sessions was obviously a nice place to start, but at the same time, it was important not to get carried away because we knew the others had more pace to find, and qualifying was always going to be close.

“The red flag in Q3 completely scuppered us, which was frustrating; it put us out-of-sync and on the back foot, and things then never really came together.

“I only had three attempts at trying to get a lap in – and I needed all three of them! On the first, I had a massive lock-up, on the second I had massive oversteer and beginning my last lap with less than a minute to go, my engineer, Spencer, came over the radio and said, ‘this is your final chance – make sure there are no track limits and no mistakes!’

“There were literally just millimetres separating us from pole, which was both good and infuriating at the same time, but third place put us right in the mix and I felt we were in good shape going into Sunday.

“I think second on the medium tyres in race one was a great result. I didn’t want to take any major risks given we’re right at the start of the season – you can’t win the title on the first weekend, but you can certainly lose it – so I decided to be sensible and bank the points.

“We knew the soft was ultimately going to be the faster tyre but that it might lack the longevity. The safety car helped Ash [Sutton] in that respect – otherwise, maybe it would have been a different story.

“Ash and I were extremely evenly-matched again in race two – there was virtually nothing to choose between us as we traded hundredths-of-a-second every lap – and he obviously knows what he is doing and exactly where he needs to place his car.

“Not only that, but when you’re caught up in the dirty air, you’re sucking in all the exhaust fumes and you see your engine temperature rising, your oil temperature rising, your brake and tyre temperatures going through the roof… Still, we came away with another good result.

“I was then so pleased for Tom [Chilton] in race three. He hasn’t had the rub of the green for the past couple of years and he was so unlucky in qualifying, but he drove absolutely immaculately and didn’t put a foot wrong.

“I told the team over the radio, ‘please let Tom know I’m not racing him – let him look after his tyres’. We’re team-mates, but we’re also great mates and he totally deserved that win.

“On my side, the last four laps really weren’t much fun at all! I knew my tyres had gone and that Ash was closing fast, and I felt a bit like a wounded gazelle, but fortunately, I had saved my boost for when he came and that avoided me getting eaten!

“Overall, three second-place finishes was a really strong way to kick the season off. Now, we’ll see how the rest of it unfolds. It’s shaping up to be pretty spicy…”