British Touring Car race winner Tom Ingram “almost had to admit defeat” in the battle against Ash Sutton in the second race of the weekend at Oulton Park.
Ingram controlled the race from the front of the field, but had to contend with the rapidly closing Ford of Sutton throughout.
“I had to be really mindful not to make a mistake, because I knew Ash was quick,” he said after the race.
“I could see when he was using hybrid to close the gap. I almost had to admit defeat, because he was closing the gap. I could see he was closing the gap but there was nothing I could do.
“I was thinking ‘I don’t really want to use any hybrid yet. If I can avoid it, I’d like to try and hold on to it until later on in the race, in case I need it.’
“So it was difficult in that because I’ve got to manage it. You got to manage the breaks, you have to manage tyres, you have to manage everything else without taking too much out of it. But equally, I needed a little bit of a buffer.”
Ingram would eventually end the race with just under a second gap to Sutton, putting himself level on points with championship leader Josh Cook.
The reverse grid draw put Ingram in 12th for the final race of the weekend. He believes his chances in that race will depend on the outcome of lap one.
“I think it’s going to be difficult with starting in 12th,” he told touringcars.net. “We’re in the sort of danger zone. I think the most important thing is to get through that one unscathed. And just try and stay out of trouble where we can and, if we’ve got the lap one unscathed, we’re in good shape and hopefully moving forwards.
“But really lap one and getting through that is going to be key.”