Tom Ingram admitted that losing his victory from the opening British Touring Car Championship race of the weekend at Knockhill was ‘really hard to take’ after he failed the post-race ride height check.
In an eventful opening encounter Ingram, who had on Saturday qualified in fifth, found himself leading the race after 18 laps when he benefitted from being the first of the front-runners to pit for wet tyres in an increasingly rain-affected race.
However, despite leading the final third of the race, as the reigning champion pulled in for post-race checks, his car was found to have failed the ride-height check – most likely due to the lower tyre pressures on his wet-tyre-shod Hyundai.
It was a case of déja-vu for Ingram, who had also lost a win at the Scottish circuit in 2018 when he failed a ride-height check in a wet race.
With Ingram and team-mate Tom Chilton both thrown out of the results, they had to start from the back of the pack for the second race.
Ingram put in a determined drive, making up 16 places to finish in tenth, setting himself up for another charge in race three.
In the end, the 29-year-old was able to salvage his weekend with a podium finish, although he lost points to title rival Ash Sutton in all three races, meaning he leaves Scotland with a 37-point deficit in the drivers’ championship standings.
“Having the win taken away from us in race one was really hard to take, particularly when we had outscored Ash and were going to be leading the championship with a few points in hand,” said Ingram.
“It was hard to try and bounce back from that as we know it is difficult to overtake around here, and with him being up towards the front, we were playing catch-up.
“At the moment, the championship fight is coming down to the odd point here and there, so it was vital that we scored as many points as we could from the remaining two races as every single point counts.
“I was hopeful going into race two as the car really comes alive on the soft tyre, so to get up into the top ten was a really pleasing result.
“Race three was just crazy, as we started in a monsoon and by the end, almost had a dry line; it was just mental how much things changed.
“It was good to end the weekend with a podium, even if Ash was able to get the win and extend his lead. We’ve just got to knuckle down and fight hard across the three meetings left to run.”
Justina Williams, Team Owner, conceded it was disappointing to lose out on a double podium in the opening race.
“This has been a weekend of hugely mixed emotions for the whole team, and to come away from it with a podium finish and a Jack Sears Trophy win is really pleasing considering where we were a few hours earlier,” said Williams.
“To lose the double podium in race one was hugely disappointing but we fought back, and for Tom Ingram to battle through to P3 by the end shows how competitive our car is.
“Whilst we have lost ground in the standings, we’ll come out fighting at Donington Park in a few weeks to try and bounce back.”