Tom Ingram was pleased to qualify at the sharp end of the British Touring Car Championship field at Snetterton, despite being frustrated by the time difference to pole-sitter Jack Goff.
Ingram originally put his Speedworks Toyota in fourth, which later became fifth when Honda’s Matt Neal had his deleted lap time reinstated after an appeal.
The two-time 2017 race winner admits that he is pleased to be making a return to the front end of the grid, but Ingram couldn’t hide his disappointment at being so far off Goff’s dominant pole pace.
“I am [happy] in the sense of our position,” said Ingram to TouringCars.Net. “We’re in the mix and we’re away from all the plonkers. I’m pleased that we’re in the right area, but I’m not pleased that we’re eight tenths off.
“I’m very, very keen to watch that pole lap back and see how he [Goff] has pulled that, because that is a stonking lap to be four tenths clear of Colin is good going, considering everyone else is so close.
“Fair play; it’s a stonking lap, but I am a bit pissed off that we are eight tenths off and four tenths away, realistically, from being in a very good place.”
Ingram added that he is not fazed by the rear-wheel drive cars of Colin Turkington and Ash Sutton starting ahead of him on the grid, adding that had he been in front he would have expected them to pass him at the start anyway.
“I knew we’d lose out to them [rear-wheel drive cars] on the first lap anyway, so that’s what it is. I’d rather have them in front of me off the line than behind.
“Honestly I’m very happy to be where we are, because ultimately we’re where we want to be; we’re with people that I know aren’t going to be idiots.
“I’ve always enjoyed driving at Snetterton and gone very well around here, so really our attention is on getting three finishes which would be quite novel given what we’ve had recently.”
The Toyota racer also added that he needs championship leader Gordon Shedden, who qualified down in 21st position, to continue to have a poor weekend to close up the 48 point deficit which has opened up since Thruxton.
“We’ve got to be slightly more on the attack to try to recover [the points], because of where we are. Maybe [the mentality] has [changed] a bit actually, as we now need to be on the attack to try to recover stuff, but also be mindful of the fact that we still need to finish.
“It’s a horrible thing to say but we need Gordon to have a bit of a nightmare at the moment.”