Tom Ingram stays realistic after Oulton Park scrap with Ash Sutton

Tom Ingram struck a measured tone after finishing fourth, directly behind title rival Ash Sutton, in the British Touring Car Championship qualifying race at Oulton Park.

The contest underlined just how finely balanced the pace between the long-term rivals appears to be, with the result meaning Sutton now holds a 58-point advantage in the drivers’ championship, after eking out an additional one-point margin.

Ingram’s verdict on the duel, and his inability to get past, was not one of frustration, but rather the two-time champion struck a tone of cautious encouragement, with little to choose between the pair over a lap.

“There was nothing between us really,” said Ingram to TouringCars.Net. “We were incredibly evenly matched.

“There were some places where I was a lot quicker and some places where Ash was a lot quicker, but it all levelled out quite well.

“I lost ground to Ash obviously when we had the coming together coming into the final corner. and then just took a few laps to try and close the gap down.”

Strategy will play a part on Sunday, with the boost picture changing from time-based use to lap-based use. Ingram will have one extra lap of deployment compared to Sutton, but he was quick to stress that advantage only matters if it is used well.

“We’ve got an extra lap over Ash. But that can cancel itself out very quickly if I don’t deploy it at the right time.”

There is also the broader championship picture – with Sutton extending his lead, Oulton Park is realistically a weekend where Ingram needs to chip away. He acknowledged the pressure but framed it as something shared by both sides rather than carried by one driver alone.

“The pressure is on Ash not to drop the ball as much as it’s on us to catch him. There’s pressure on both sides, but we’ve both been around long enough to understand that.”