Tom Ingram enjoyed the excitement of the new British Touring Car Championship qualifying format at Donington Park, as the EXCELR8 Motorsport driver scored the seventh pole of his BTCC career.
The Hyundai racer had been top in both of Saturday’s practice sessions at a cool and cloudy Donington Park, and then prevailed in a 70-minute qualifying session.
Indeed, the only time Ingram was bettered all day came in Q2, when long-time rival Ash Sutton pipped him to the quickest lap by 0.079 seconds.
However, the 2022 champion then came back even faster in Q3 on a dry circuit, lapping in 1:07.845 to beat Sutton by half a tenth.
“It was very stressful,” Ingram told TouringCars.Net. “It was a bit bonkers; I was nearly out in Q1, with the whole slick – wet tyre choices.
“Had I completed my Q1 lap on the slicks, then all of a sudden I wouldn’t have made it into Q2. It was a bit stressful, but I quite enjoy it.
“It’s nice to have more and more clear track as the day goes on. I enjoyed it, it was good.”
Ingram was unconcerned about any effect changing track conditions may have on his chances in the new format, as several drivers found themselves caught out by the rain and short session durations on Saturday.
“There’s an argument to say that the rear-wheel drive cars have more time [to post a flying lap] because they can continue to build [tyre temperature]. They’ll argue that they take longer to build the tyre temperatures, so there’s an argument pro and against.
“When it’s cold like this it’s difficult for us all; we all struggle with tyre temperature. When we get to Snetterton and it becomes 100 degrees Celsius then it will probably level itself out a little bit more.
“I like the format; I think it’s good and it adds a little bit of a difference to it.”
Ingram found himself once again competing with Sutton at the sharp end of the timesheets, but insists he is expecting an even tougher year in 2024.
“It’s always a ding-dong, but it’s not just with Ash. We’ve got lots of fast people in the mix this year.
“Just because Ash was the man to beat last year, doesn’t mean he’s going to be solely the man to beat this year.
“I think personally it’s going to be tougher than ever, especially with the hybrid performance that we’re going to see this year as it plays itself out.
“It’s going to be tough to try and repeat what Ash did. Consistency is going to be key and we’ve obviously got the option tyres to contend with.
“It will play itself out how it wants to, but at the minute Ash and I are very close and I’m sure that the first race will be very spicy.”