After securing the Independent Drivers crown last campaign, Tom Ingram and Speedworks Motorsport are targeting the British Touring Car Championship title in 2018.
The High Wycombe-based racer enjoyed his most successful campaign in the UK’s headline tin-top series to date in 2017, registering four race victories and a further five podium finishes behind the wheel of the Toyota Avensis.
He also pipped three-time champion Gordon Shedden, who recently departed Team Dynamics after a decade in the fold, to third in the overall standings on a dramatic Finals Day at Brands Hatch in October.
The triple Ginetta champion, who was also voted as the series’ best driver in 2017 in a poll conducted by Motorsport News, is now targeting a maiden championship crown of his own.
“After what we accomplished last year, there can only be one objective for 2018 – the overall title,” asserted Ingram.
“There was never any question that we would be staying with Speedworks this year. They’re like my second family. The dynamic between us works so well – it has since day one, and it’s getting stronger all the time.
“We’re still a comparatively small, tight-knit team, so to do what we did last season with the resources we had – up against a whole host of more experienced and better-funded rivals – was nothing short of phenomenal.
“Winning both Indie championships was a huge tick in the box, but we don’t plan to stop there – we want to push for even more this year, and I see no reason why we can’t achieve that.
“Several teams are rolling out new cars, whereas the Avensis is a proven package which means we can hit the ground running in the curtain-raiser at Brands Hatch in April, and on the driving side, I’m not afraid of anyone.
“I’ve shown that I can race against and regularly beat the Jason Platos, Colin Turkingtons and Matt Neals of this world, and I think 2017 demonstrated that the tide is turning in the BTCC and that the old guard that have ruled the roost for so long are being replaced by the new generation. And I want to be the standard-bearer of that new generation for many years to come.”