Highly-rated young High Wycombe motor racing star Tom Ingram has sealed an eleventh-hour deal to join front-running outfit Hillspeed for the opening meeting on the 2010 Ginetta Junior Championship calendar at Thruxton over Easter weekend – and should he succeed in scrabbling together the funds for the full season, title glory is very much in his sights.
Tom enjoyed an extremely promising maiden campaign of car racing competition in Ginettas last year, rapidly establishing himself as one of the very leading contenders in the closed-top sportscar series that supports the hugely popular, high-profile and ITV4-televised Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC).
Though the cash-strapped 16-year-old found himself forced to miss three of the ten rounds due to budgetary constraints, he impressed greatly, with no fewer than six top four grid positions – including an eye-catching double pole around the challenging Oulton Park in Cheshire, a real drivers’ circuit if ever there was one – and a rostrum finish only second time out.
Having battled through a tough winter financially – for much of which it looked like the former British Karting Champion would not make the field this year at all – Tom has finally succeeded in securing his seat barely a week away from the curtain-raiser, and he can scarcely contain his enthusiasm.
“It’s great to know we will be on the grid,” he enthused, “because over the past few months we weren’t certain if we were going to be racing or not. It’s good to know we will be doing the first round – and hopefully the whole season – and it’s brilliant to be associated with such a well-respected team as Hillspeed!
“I’m really excited about the challenge ahead. I’m looking forward to meeting the whole team, because I’ve only met the team principal Richard Ollerenshaw so far, but what struck me the most about Hillspeed is their professionalism. On the media day they just came across as a really clean, successful, well turned-out operation. It will be good to have a team-mate to work with too in Seb Morris, and hopefully we can work together in qualifying to ensure that we both start high up the grid.
“We’ve only done very limited testing so far and that was straight out-of-the-box, so we haven’t really been able to compare ourselves against anybody else yet. Thruxton will be the first time we see how the pecking order really looks, but I’ve got a year’s experience under my belt now and am a much stronger driver for it. We did very well there last year – so another podium has to be the aim!”
The dauntingly fast Hampshire track, indeed, is the scene of Tom’s superb breakthrough rostrum 12 months ago, meaning the Conway House-backed speed demon is returning there with happy memories and high hopes of a repeat performance.
Having annexed a brace of second row starting slots at Thruxton last season – a stunning ten-place improvement on his Brands Hatch debut only three weeks earlier – the ‘awesome’ circuit at which ‘you really need to have balls to go well’ clearly holds no fear for the Bucks teenager. What’s more, the added carrot of a test outing in Hillspeed’s Formula Renault BARC single-seater for every podium achieved is clearly a significant spur – but Tom insists his real focus is on the bigger picture.
“The Formula Renault BARC test is a huge incentive to do well and fight for as many podiums as possible,” acknowledged the former Wycombe and Marlow Sports Personality of the Year. “It’s a huge opportunity without a shadow of a doubt – but at the end of the day, the ultimate aim has to be to win the championship.”
That is a goal that is palpably shared by Ollerenshaw, with the boss of Derbyshire-based Hillspeed effusive about the potential of his new charge and making no secret of his desire to convert the current race-by-race agreement into a full-term partnership provided the necessary funding can be found.
“We’re delighted to welcome Tom to the team and we’re sure he’ll hit the ground running at Thruxton,” he positively stated. “Obviously we’d like this to become a season-long deal, but that’s all dependent on Tom being able to achieve the required budget. He showed a lot of ability last year in his debut season, and hopefully he can make a strong start to 2010.”
If you are interested in sponsoring Tom, please contact him on 07817 883469 or at tom@ingram26.fsnet.co.uk
