Ingram makes up lost ground in final charge
IF ever there was a case of making the most of what you’d been dealt, Hughes/ Speedworks Motorsport racer Tom Ingram was the perfect example of that as he came away from Thruxton with two top ten finishes in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.
The Bredbury-based squad were left wondering what to do next as Ingram was left in a disappointing 17th place on the grid during a red-flag strewn qualifying session that saw the team’s sister car of Simon Belcher heavily damaged following contact with the Ford Focus of Mike Bushell.
It was an accident that saw Bushell taken to hospital and left with ligament damage to his leg.
Ingram, who had qualified 1.4secs off the pace of Pole man Aron Smith in his VW CC, opened his account on race-day with a fantastic drive to 10th place in Race 1, just two-tenths of a second behind the Chevrolet Cruze of Josh Cook.
Race 2 put the comeback on hold as accident damage to the Team’s Toyota Avensis forced Ingram to retire on lap 9. The result of which meant the former Ginetta Champion would be forced to start from 23rd on the final grid of the day, ahead of former World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx [BMW], and former BTCC Champion Matt Neal in the Works’ Honda Civic Type-R.
Ingram, on a charge, climbed no less than seven places on the opening lap alone, demoting Priaulx two laps later. A short Safety-Car period to retrieve the stricken VW CC of Warren Scott interrupted the charge but Ingram would claim five more places, crossing the line in 10th place overall, again closely following Josh Cook home.
“We had a really positive day on Sunday,” explained Speedworks boss Christian Dick. “We’re still getting a handle on the new car, and we worked hard on Saturday night and came up with a great set-up for the races.
“We were nowhere on Saturday, and changed a lot for Sunday. Who knows where we could have ended up if we’d had a better grid position.
“With us being pretty much alongside Matt Neal [performance- wise] I’m feeling really positive after Race 3. When we finally unlock the Qualifying potential I think we’ll have a good package”, added Dick.
Tom remains in fifth place in the Independents Championship and 12th position in the overall Title chase.
Elsewhere, there were wins for Gordon Shedden [Honda], Jason Plato [VW], and former Speedworks racer Adam Morgan [Merc]. Shedden leads the Series as we head to Oulton Park in Cheshire on the 6/7th June.