Tom Ingram encouraged by improved Knockhill performance

Speedworks’ Tom Ingram says he was ‘encouraged’ by an improved showing at Knockhill in the British Touring Car Championship compared to last year, with the Toyota driver leaving Scotland with a podium plus two top ten finishes.

Qualifying in fifth on Saturday with 30 kg of success ballast on board – just a place lower than his season-best – Ingram put himself in a strong starting position for the first of Sunday’s races.

The Toyota Corolla racer then made up a place at the start of race one, but despite race-long pressure he was unable to find a way past the Honda of Jake Hill ahead for a podium finish.

Race two, carrying 12 kg more ballast, saw Ingram move up to third around the outside at Turn 1 on the opening lap, and the two-time Independents’ champion then held on to a podium position, his second of the year, despite pressure from Honda’s Dan Cammish.

The final reverse-grid race of the day placed the Buckinghamshire racer in ninth on the grid, whilst Ingram also had to contend with 48 kg of success ballast.

Despite initially passing BMW’s Colin Turkington, Ingram ultimately had to concede to his rear-wheel drive rival and several others, ultimately finishing in tenth in a hard-fought race.

Having maintained his sixth place in the drivers’ championship standings, Ingram believes he maximised the potential of his package at Knockhill, a circuit which has traditionally found fortune with the rear-wheel drive cars.

“Another weekend where we were there-or-thereabouts throughout, and I really don’t think we could have achieved very much more,” said Ingram. “It was definitely a big improvement compared to 12 months ago at Knockhill, which is encouraging.

“It’s always a busy lap at Knockhill, and I didn’t quite manage to link all the sectors together [in qualifying] but I was still pleased with fifth – it was the first time all season I’ve felt like we could really push for pole.”

Ingram admitted to being frustrated to not being able to make up more ground in race one, despite having what he believed was a faster car than MB Motorsport’s Jake Hill.

“Cammish gifted me a place when he went wide in race one, but then my momentum came to a halt behind Hill.

“It’s so frustrating at Knockhill – you can have the legs on the car ahead of you, but you just can’t do anything about it.

“All the other driver needs to do is stick to the inside at the hairpin, which forces you to the outside where you are vulnerable to attack from behind.

“Jake also had no ballast on-board, which gave him a slight advantage. Had I been able to get past him, perhaps I could have closed the gap to the top two, but I was happy enough to finish fourth.”

Ingram moved quickly in race two to see off Hill and set about chasing down leaders Ash Sutton and Colin Turkington.

“I knew it was important to clear Jake quickly in race two, because if we had settled into a rhythm, it would have risked turning into a repeat scenario.

“The Corolla was superb early on and with a decent-sized gap behind, I was able to go on the attack – it actually felt like we were in the power seat for a while – but then Cammish closed onto the back of me and once you find yourself having to defend, you naturally go slower.

“I could see Dan was quicker in a number of areas so I was having to drive in my mirrors, and it was good to come away with our second podium of the season.”

With extra weight on board and an unfavourable grid position, Ingram conceded that he was unlikely to match his earlier results in the final race of the weekend.

“It was inevitable that I was going to lose ground at the beginning of race three – even if you get the best possible start, with rear wheel-drive cars right behind you, you’re still going to get mugged.

“After re-passing Colin, I then got my nose up the inside of [Aiden] Moffat coming out of the chicane but he closed the door, which resulted in contact.

“That left me on the outside on the approach to the hairpin, costing me the position to Colin again.

“With RWD cars all around us, we were on a bit of a hiding to nothing after that – the best overtaking opportunity at the track is the final hairpin, but what we gained on the brakes, we would lose and more besides all the way from the exit up to Turn One.

“To hang onto tenth place was probably the best we could have managed and meant we left Knockhill with three very solid results, more good points, another trophy and very little damage.

“Now we look forward to an altogether different type of challenge at Thruxton – bring it on!”