Breakthrough Ginetta victory ‘the best day of my life!’So precarious was his family’s financial situation that barely a week beforehand, Tom Ingram did not even know if he would be competing in the 2010 Ginetta Junior Championship curtain-raiser at Thruxton. Not only did the young High Wycombe star come and see, however, he consummately conquered – producing a sublime performance to reach the top step of the podium in cars for the first time and establish his credentials as a genuine title challenger on what he described as ‘the best day of my life’.
A hugely promising maiden campaign of car racing competition last year in the British Touring Car Championship-supporting closed-top sportscar series – albeit one somewhat frustrated by funding issues – laid the foundations for what Tom hopes will be a successful bid for glory second time around. Thruxton was an excellent way to begin.
Having been snapped up by highly-respected outfit Hillspeed on the eve of the season, the former British Karting Champion headed to the high-speed Hampshire track – the fastest and most fearsome circuit in the country – with but a single day’s testing under his belt in the striking new Ginetta G40. Allied to distinctly mixed weather conditions over the course of the weekend, all the ingredients were there for a real baptism of fire – but by lapping consistently and effortlessly inside the top three during practice come rain or shine and annexing a brace of front row grid spots in qualifying, Tom wasted little time in getting down to very serious business indeed.
“Thruxton is so much fun in the wet!” he revealed. “I was a bit nervous going out there at first, but to be opposite-locking at 100mph was just awesome! Hillspeed are a brilliant team, and the car they gave me was so good and spot-on in terms of set-up, so all I had to do was go out there and rag the nuts off it – and I gave it everything.
“I was quite confident heading into qualifying that I would be competitive and inside the top three. I was on pole for a lot of the session, but then just got pipped at the end. I qualified without the benefit of the tow as well, so my time was my true lap time; being in the tow around Thruxton is probably worth about three tenths of a second a lap and I missed pole by just under that, so I was definitely satisfied with two second places.”
Better still was to follow in race one, though, albeit not before the 16-year-old had given himself some work to do following an uncharacteristic early error that cost him a number of positions. Fired-up and with the bit between his teeth, none of his adversaries was able to hold a candle to Tom’s stunning pace in treacherously greasy conditions, as he scythed his way up through the order again and snatched back the lead three laps from home to seal a famous and emotional triumph.
“It has to be one of my best wins ever,” he enthused, “but I didn’t make it easy for myself! I got a good start and was level-pegging with the leader heading into the first corner. I stayed right on his tail and kept pushing him all the way up to the first complex, but then on the exit I just got on the power a touch too soon and spun. It was entirely my fault, and that dropped me down towards the bottom of the top ten.
“Before we had gone out, though, my mechanic Neil had said to me ‘it’s a long race and anything can happen, so whatever you do, don’t lose your head’. I remembered that as I was spinning, and by the end of the first lap I was already back up to seventh. After that I just went for it! I was flying, and if there was even half a chance of a move I took it. I overtook Chris Swanwick for the lead with three laps to go, and I was just about getting away from him when the chequered flag came out.
“Those last three laps felt like 30 laps – they seemed to go so slowly! Going into the chicane for the last time, all I could think was ‘I’m going to win this, I’m going to win this!’ When I crossed the line I was crying and shouting so loud I reckon they probably heard me up on the pit wall – I almost ripped the steering wheel off too with shaking it so much!
“Being on the top step of the podium was amazing! I held the trophy up in the air – it’s going to have to take pride of place in my collection now, because winning it meant the world to me. I would never have believed this if someone had told me a week ago. We had done such a minimal amount of testing, and if I’m honest I didn’t think we would even be going to Thruxton – it was a bit of a ‘Brawn GP’ to tell the truth!
“I couldn’t have asked for any better way to begin the season. I’m the first driver to win in the new G40, and it was Hillspeed’s first race in the championship too. I owe a huge ‘thank you’ to them and to my family, and having the whole team around me with everyone so happy made it even more special. It was just a fantastic day – the best of my life!”
Justifiably proud of his tremendous achievement against all the odds, the clear aim for Sunday was to do the double by adding a second consecutive victory to his career CV. However, a slow puncture picked up on the warming-up lap around to the starting grid – at a track notorious for causing tyre problems – offset the balance of Tom’s car, leaving the Conway House and Joe Bloggs-backed speed demon fighting a rearguard battle.
Running second early on, the Bucks teenager doggedly fended off attacks from behind as his tyre troubles cost him as much as a second a lap to his chief rivals. After slipping as far back as seventh, he went on to engage in an entertaining and energetic scrap with reigning champion Sarah Moore – twice losing out only to gutsily re-take the position with a bold move down the inside of Church, the fastest corner in Britain and one where only the very ballsiest of drivers attempt to overtake – that resulted in an impressive fifth place at the close.
“I could feel something was wrong, but didn’t know exactly what or how it would affect the car at high-speed,” recollected the former Wycombe and Marlow Sports Personality of the Year of the puncture. “It was particularly difficult in left-hand corners – the car just wouldn’t turn in properly. Going through the last chicane I could never turn in sufficiently, so I had to go straight over the kerb instead. There was nothing I could do about it, though, so I just had to do the best I could.
“It was a very clean and fun fight with Sarah with a lot of place-swapping, but there was no way she was going to beat me! Both times that I re-passed her I had got a good run coming out of the previous corner and didn’t want to waste the momentum I had, so I went straight up the inside and tried to get the move done as quickly as possible. In the circumstances and given the problem we had, fifth was a very solid result.”
Awesomely brave and showcasing his peerless racecraft to superb effect, the performance was a textbook exercise in damage limitation – and adding to his perfect score from the previous day, it ensured that Tom left Thruxton again just three points shy of the championship lead. And poised to pounce.
Tom is still seeking sponsorship to be able to complete the 2010 season; if you are interested in backing him, please call 07817 883469 or e-mail: tom@ingram26.fsnet.co.uk
