Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram was critical of Josh Cook for contact in the second British Touring Car Championship race at Croft, which cost him a chance of points in the final race of the day.
Having finished eighth in the weekend’s opening race, Ingram was running ahead of MG’s Josh Cook in the second race when contact from Cook broke the right-rear suspension on Ingram’s Toyota, ending his race.
Cook was set to serve a stop-and-go penalty anyway for not having had all of his car’s wheels on the grid when the three-minute warning was given, but the MG driver still went for a pass on the first lap which ultimately ended Ingram’s race.
“From 13th on the grid, race one went perfectly to plan, with good pace and a good haul of points,” said Ingram. “That left us in very strong shape for the remainder of the day.
“With a few set-up tweaks and far less weight on-board in race two, we were ready to go on the attack.
“I got a great start to move up to seventh and we were well in the mix, and then Cook just launched his car up the inside of me where there was no room to overtake.
“It was totally unnecessary – especially as he had a penalty coming for something else – and it cost us a lot of points from both that race and the next, because when you start at the back in a championship as competitive as the BTCC is at the moment, there’s only so much you can do.
“Our target was to break into the top 15 in race three – and we very nearly succeeded.”
Ingram went on to finish just outside the points in 16th, leaving him now 48 points behind points leader Gordon Shedden after two poor weekends in a row.
“We’ll take some time out now to regroup, which will be good for all the boys in the team because they have genuinely worked their socks off over the last few months. We’ll come back refreshed at Snetterton and ready to go again.
“Admittedly, we’re not in as good a position as we were after Thruxton, but we’re by no means in a bad position either.
“Gordon Shedden was 52 points off the championship lead at this stage last year and he went on to win the title – so there’s no reason at all why we can’t do the same.”
Speedworks Team Principal Christian Dick pointed to the positives with Ingram continuing to lead the Independent Drivers’ championship standings, whilst the team’s Toyota will also have to carry less success ballast at the next round at Snetterton.
“Focussing on the positives, Tom’s still leading the Independents’ table – albeit by a reduced margin – and he’s still very much in touch in the main championship too,” said Dick.
“Yes, our current position makes the task a bit more difficult than it looked a few weeks ago, but we’ve got two of the major rear wheel-drive circuits out of the way now and we’re carrying a bit less ballast, which will definitely help.
“I’m really excited about the second half of the season – this isn’t over yet by a long shot.”