Tom Ingram is confident of challenging for the British Touring Car Championship title after a strong opening weekend of the new season at Brands Hatch.
Ingram, battling illness all weekend, won the first round of the season for the second successive year before overcoming a potential non-start from pole position in race two to claim third and underlining his pace with a points-scoring finish in the reverse grid contest.
The rising star’s Toyota Avensis has been refreshed by Speedworks Motorsport over the winter, with the majority of the car’s components brand-new.
The net result of his form from Brands Hatch sees Ingram sit second in both the Drivers and Independents standings, six points adrift of leader and defending champion Gordon Shedden in the former.
“I’m over-the-moon,” said Ingram. “That’s the best start to a season we’ve ever had, and to leave sitting second in the championship is phenomenal. It’s been a brilliant weekend.
“We arrived feeling confident after winter testing and hopeful of replicating last year’s form, and although the weather scuppered our chances of taking pole position, we more than made up for that in race one. The start was key – I knew if I could snatch the lead straightaway, I could earn myself some breathing space and that’s exactly what happened. After that, I just kept it steady and maintained a consistently strong pace without ever having to push flat-out.
“The Avensis felt absolutely mint and it was awesome to win the first race of the season again – the only time all year when everybody is on a level playing field with no success ballast to take into account. It was the perfect way to reward the Speedworks boys for their tireless hard work over the winter, and proved that all of our development efforts have really paid off.
“It didn’t look like we’d even be starting race two at one stage and once we finally did get going, we knew it would be tricky with the weight but by the same token, we had a very quick car underneath us. That said, as soon as I saw Rob Collard throw his nose down the inside of me at Paddock Hill Bend, I thought, ‘I remember this from last year’ so I let him go! We prioritised the points and considering the ballast we had on-board, third was fantastic and definitely exceeded our expectations.
“With the current BTCC regulations, you’re never going to have three great races over the course of a weekend and the third one was always going to be a case of damage limitation for us – so to come away with another points finish and sitting second in both the overall and Independents’ standings was a stellar result. We’ve shown we are a force to be reckoned with and are firmly in the mix – and that’s massively exciting for the rest of the year.”