Ingram repays new sponsor’s faith with flawless weekend to extend championship lead
Barely 36 hours before official practice for the third round of the 2011 Ginetta G50 Cup at Thruxton, Walker Logistics stepped in to save the day for championship leader Tom Ingram by pledging to sponsor him for the meeting – and the talented young High Wycombe star repaid that faith with the most impressive performance of his career to-date.
Having proven to be the indisputable pace-setter at both Brands Hatch and Donington Park, Tom held a 25-point lead approaching Thruxton, but with his family as ever struggling to raise sufficient funding to keep him in the cockpit, things looked bleak – until a contact provided by Conquest Talent Management recognised the 17-year-old’s palpable potential and decided to invest in him for the weekend.
“It was pretty last-minute again!” he quipped. “We got an e-mail from Walker Logistics on the Tuesday evening saying they wanted to sponsor me for Thruxton. It was a real saving grace, because up until then we weren’t going to be racing. It was from one extreme to the other and I was speechless, to be honest. There was a sense of unbelievable excitement that rushed through me – for it all to turn around like that was just mind-blowing!
“After winning at Brands Hatch and Donington Park, we were ready for Thruxton and really pumped-up, and it was a real buzz to bounce back from looking like not racing to all-of-a-sudden being out there competing around a track I’ve always done well at.”
Indeed, the fearsomely fast Hampshire circuit is one that holds happy memories for Tom, being the scene of his maiden podium in cars in 2009 and his breakthrough victory 12 months later. Describing it as ‘balls-out’ and ‘scary’ – and a layout that he ‘absolutely loves’ – his form there is nothing short of superb, and having been cruelly denied a hat-trick of triumphs at Brands and Donington through ill-fortune, the goal was clear.
After encouragingly pacing both practice sessions on old rubber, the Plans Motorsport ace went on to make it three pole positions in swift succession in qualifying, even doing so without needing to complete as many laps as many of his G50 rivals, thereby intelligently saving his tyres around a track infamous for punishing them and where an older set can have such an effect as to ‘alter the whole characteristics of the car’.
Although he conceded that his adversaries were a touch closer than he had anticipated, he would not let them get anything like as close again for the remainder of the weekend – and from eighth on the grid overall in race one, Tom laid down a marker by artfully taking the fight to some of the competitors in the faster G55 machinery.
“I was confident we could pull away from the other G50s,” Tom reflected. “I had to defend a bit from Aaron Williamson in the early stages, but then it was just a case of breaking the tow, and after I started to pull away from him, I focussed on trying to put some decent times in.
“Towards the end of the race, I began catching the G55 of Colin White in front of me at the rate of about eight tenths-to-a-second per lap. I was reeling him in, and I knew I had two choices – to slow up so as not to risk getting into a tangle, or to try and overtake him. I slackened my pace a little bit, but I was still gaining on Colin and with Williamson not all that far behind, I thought, ‘I’ve got to go past him’.
“I managed to latch onto the back of him, and I put him under a bit of pressure going into the final chicane. Colin made just a little mistake, which gave me a run along the pit straight and I went down the inside into the first corner; he tried to turn in, but I stood my ground because I knew if I backed off, it would hurt my speed and possibly give Williamson a chance.”
A third G50 victory of the campaign and a magnificent fifth place overall ahead of no fewer than four G55s, if that effort was outstanding, then the next two races would be quite simply extraordinary.
“I made a decent start in both of them and then just got my head down and didn’t make any mistakes,” recounted the BRDC Rising Star. “In race two, I tried to push and keep putting in consistent lap times whilst preserving my tyres as best I could for the third one. Fortunately, I established a big enough gap that I never needed to push to the limit – it was all about keeping everything smooth and making the tyres last. That was the real key, so that I could maintain my pace for the third race, too.”
In race two, Tom took the chequered flag 13 seconds clear of his nearest G50 pursuer, and in race three, that margin was a staggering 17 seconds, lapping on occasion as much as 2.5 seconds faster than anybody else in the class. As displays of dominance go, it was right up there, with the former British Karting Champion’s supreme consistency – always a hallmark of his driving – breaking his rivals’ spirits as he proved to be in a league all of his own weekend-long.
The only G50 driver to trouble the G55s, it was a peerless performance and one that has helped to more than double his advantage in the title chase to 60 points, with five triumphs now from just nine races – more than a 50 per cent strike rate. As the championship heads next to Oulton Park in Cheshire – where Tom achieved his first pole position in cars – his tail is up and he is eager to keep that run going.
“It would have been unthinkable ahead of the weekend to win by as much as we did in races two and three,” mused the Bucks speed demon in conclusion, making a point of thanking Walker Logistics, Ellis Clowes, Boxfresh and Puzzle IT for their support. “I never expected that – I hadn’t even expected to be racing at all!
“I couldn’t believe that I was right up there battling with some of the G55s, too, especially around Thruxton of all places – that should be the track that allows them to use their extra power the most. To finish fifth overall in one of the races was very special. I think we’ve got to a stage now where we’ve found a pretty good set-up for the car and it’s all gelling together – and we’ve proved we’ve got really good pace.
“It was a cracking weekend – I can’t fault it in any way. Plans Motorsport did a great job as they always do, and it was just amazing to be delivered the lifeline that we were by Walker Logistics – we could never have done it without them, so I owe them a huge ‘thank you’.”
That faith has been repaid in spectacular style. At Thruxton, Tom Ingram did all of his talking firmly on the track.
Tom still needs more sponsorship to be able to make the next round of the season; if you are interested in backing him, please call 07817 883469 or e-mail: tom@ingram26.fsnet.co.uk
