DAVID EVANS

“People are drawn to Ingram’s natural speed”

Given that Europe seems to have been very much at the heart of our lives in the past week (week?), it seems like a good time to talk about the man who rules the European side of our lives. Chris Ingram. He’s our man in Europe.

What do we think of Ingram and his efforts in this year’s European Rally Championship? Much has been made of the history and the mantle of the first Brit to succeed in Europe since Vic Elford in 1967.

As with any European campaign, this one’s fraught with discussion, debate and discord. There are plenty who question the worthiness of the European title in the modern era and certainly the man who has dominated the ERC in recent years – Kajto Kajetanowicz – hasn’t been able to display anything like that authority since his step up to the world stage.

And talking of authority, Ingram didn’t exactly boss this year’s ERC. In fact, he only won four stages and didn’t lead or win any of the rounds he contested. And what of those rallies? Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Czech – worthy as they are, they’re hardly cornerstones of everything that made rallying great on this continent.

Watching from afar, I’d pretty much made my mind up on Ingram’s efforts this year.

Then I sat down with him at Skoda Motorsport’s Prague conference last week and started to understand a bit more about the story behind the story. Anybody who knows anything about

Chris Ingram knows two things about him. First, he’s a very, very good human being. Second, he’s skint. Very skint.

There’s a third thing: he’s a quality rally driver – and Britain’s first champion of note to be recognised by the FIA since Richard Burns won the world title in 2001 (Kris Meeke’s Intercontinental Rally Challenge success in 2009 wasn’t an Fia-titled championship). But how good is Ingram?

Ask him that question and he looks for a way around it. Back him into a corner and he’s direct and honest.

“Since I started driving a four-wheel-drive car last year,” he said, “I genuinely don’t think I’ve had the chance to get in the car and just drive it as hard and as fast as I possibly can. Every time I start a rally, I absolutely know I’ve got to finish it. You hear this a lot, but so many times in the last couple of years, crashing out of an event would have, most likely, made it my last rally.”

He says all of that without a trace of angst, self-pity or frustration. It’s just a fact. And there’s room for all of those character traits, especially after missing out on a £100,000 purse by just three tenths of a second on the Barum Rally in the summer.

There was no hint of the head dropping. Instead, he focused on finding some cash and having a crack at the next one.

People like Toksport team owner Serkan Duru are drawn to Ingram because they see some real, genuine speed. Now the Mancunian rules Europe, all he wants is the opportunity to show he’s got pace to match that consistency.

Here’s hoping. He’s earned his shot and, as Ingram looks to capitalise on his crown next year, we’ll see just how important Europe is to Britain.