Tom Ingram believes his poor weekend at Croft in the British Touring Car Championship could be a ‘blessing in disguise’ as the Excelr8 Motorsport driver will shed 27 kg of success ballast at Silverstone this weekend.
Ingram struggled for pace at Croft, having gone into last weekend second in the drivers’ standings and consequently having to carry 66 kg of weight.
That meant the Hyundai driver only qualified in 21st for race one, although in Sunday’s races he battled back to finish 12th, fourth and fourth in the three races respectively.
The 28-year-old has now dropped to fifth in the drivers’ standings, but that means that Ingram will carry 39 kg this weekend.
Ingram has a strong track record at Silverstone, having won five times, once each year between 2016 and 2018 and twice in 2019, whilst he finished second in race one last year before a race two puncture cost him dearly.
“Although we dropped a few places in the standings at Croft, I think that is a bit of a blessing in disguise going into this weekend because of the fact we are now carrying less weight than we have done for most of the season,” said Ingram.
“It’s so close in the points that we are only eight points away from the second place we held going into the last round, but we’re now 27 kg lighter – and that could make a big difference in qualifying and race one.
“My plan for Silverstone is very much to go on the attack and having enjoyed such a good record there in recent years, I’m fired up for another strong weekend to keep the pressure on in the standings.”