Brit Ingram out of Greece with illness
Chris Ingram will miss this weekend’s Acropolis Rally, forcing the Briton to relinquish his hopes of taking the overall European Rally Championship title this season.
The Manchester driver was sidelined by illness at the Canaries Rally earlier this month and while his recovery is well underway, he’s not fit for Greece. “I’m gutted,” Ingram said. “What’s worse is that the car’s there in Greece and ready to go. My aim is the next round in Cyprus, but a more realistic target is the following event in Rome in July.
“Missing the Canaries and Greece makes the ERC title pretty impossible, so we focus everything on the ERC U28 title, Rome’s the next round of that. The main thing is to make sure I’m fully fit and, while I’m getting there, it’s not perfect yet. I’ve got to say a very big thank you to Toksport, the team – they have been fantastic looking after me and getting the car sorted.”
Landing the ERC U28 title would offer Ingram a 2019 World Rally Championship outing in a World Rally Car.
“I really want to fight for the ERC title next year, it would be fantastic to win that,” Ingram said. “Then I have to be aiming for the WRC2 – it’s vital to get there.”
ERC leader Alexey Lukyanuk starts the Acropolis chasing a hat-trick of 2018 wins and few look capable of stopping the Russian’s Ford Fiesta R5.