hree years after first competing there, Tom Ingram finally succeeded in cracking his Snetterton curse as he sped to his sixth victory of what is turning out to be a superb 2013 campaign in the fiercely-contested Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup.
Prior to last weekend, Snetterton was the only circuit on the Ginetta GT Supercup calendar at which Ingram had never won, with Lady Luck stubbornly refusing to smile upon the talented young High Wycombe ace in Norfolk. To give you an idea, in 2011, practically everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong, whilst in 2012, engine failure robbed him of the top step of the rostrum. You get the picture...
That said, he returned to Snetterton 12 months on in bullish spirits off the back of a tremendous triple triumph in the preceding outing at Croftand eager to reclaim his now customary position right at the front of the field following a seemingly interminable six-week summer hiatus.
After the form we had displayed at Croft with three dominant wins, I hadnt wanted the break in the first place! quipped the SKYCIG and Hansford Sensors-backed hotshot. I was definitely ready to get back racing again at Snettertonand to carry our momentum forward from the first half of the season!
Ingram seamlessly picked up from where he had left off in qualifying by annexing his third straight pole position behind the wheel of his JHR Developments-prepared Ginetta G55, with chief title rival and home hero Carl Breeze more than half-a-second adrift in third. He converted that supremacy into a flawless lights-to-flag victory in the opening encounter to the tune of almost two seconds, never coming under any kind of threat as he smashed his Snetterton hoodoo in style with a resounding sixth success of the season.
Following an appearance at the traditional Saturday night KX Question Time eventat which he became the first KX Akademy protg to scoop a second Yellow Jersey by dint of his Croft masterythe 19-year-old subsequently surrendered his advantage at the beginning of race two with wheelspin away from the line, before proceeding to harry local specialist Breeze throughout.
After several abortive attempts to find a way through, Ingram sagely determined that with a championship crown at stake, discretion was the better part of valour up against a driver renowned as one of the toughest in the paddock to passgoing on to take the chequered flag a scant two tenths of a second in Breezes wake.
The British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) Rising Star, MSA Academy member and KENNETT brand ambassador drew P4 on the reversed grid for race three, and after a red-flagged first effort cut three laps from the action, he tucked into third position from the off. Try as he might, howeverand he most certainly didthere was no way around second-placed Pepe Massot.
Despite setting a succession of fastest laps and poking his nose halfway alongside on a number of occasions, the Spaniard refused to wilt under the pressure applied by the championship leader and Ingram was forced to settle for third, a result that nonetheless markedincrediblya 15th consecutive rostrum finish.
As the ITV4 live-televised, British Touring Car Championship-supporting Ginetta GT Supercup heads north of the border next to Knockhill in Scotland, the former Ginetta G50 Champion, Ginetta Junior Champion and British Karting Champion holds a 107-point margin over Breeze in the drivers standingsand is edging ever-nearer to his ultimate goal.
The first race was exactly what we needed to re-assert our authority after the break, he reflected, and posting fastest lap as well meant we scored maximum points. I hounded Carl for all I was worth in race two, but there was just no way through without taking a sizeable risk.
Snetterton is such an aero-dependent circuit, which makes it so difficult to get right up behind somebodyespecially with all the cars being as evenly-matched as they are in the Ginetta GT Supercup. Any time you do get close enough to contemplate a move, you lose all downforce, and everybody knows what a tricky customer Carl is to overtake at the best of times! It didnt help that my brakes began fading towards the endand with the championship in-mind, it was far more important to finish second than not to finish at all.
I chased Massot all the way in race three, as he kept putting two wheels off the track and kicking up dust, which was a bit of a distraction. It was really frustrating, because we both had the pace to go forwards in pursuit of the leader and I tried to signal to him as such, but Pepe was so hell-bent on defending that we fell back instead. Fair-play to him, thoughhe didnt give me any chances to fight my way past, and another podium was still a decent way to conclude the weekend.
Overall, Im very happy as we extended our championship advantage and managed to banish our Snetterton jinx! Knockhill is a proper tight-and-twisty drivers track that I absolutely loveand another circuit that owes us after what happened there last year! Although we have a handy lead, we cant afford to sit back on our laurels. We need to keep scoring solid points in every raceand if we can do that, hopefully come seasons end, the sums will take care of themselves.
