Tom Ingram extended his unbroken podium run to an extraordinary 18 as the fiercely-contested, British Touring Car Championship-supporting Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup journeyed north of the border to Knockhill in Scotland – where a ‘magic’ seventh victory of a sensational 2013 campaign has carried the talented young High Wycombe ace one step closer to his ultimate goal.
Ingram travelled to Knockhill with an excellent previous record around the undulating and popular Fife circuit, albeit having been transported away in an air ambulance last year with leg injuries after driveshaft failure had left him stranded on the starting grid and an unsighted rival had ploughed into the back of him at almost 100mph. Happily, his return visit 12 months on would conclude on a considerably brighter note.
“I’ve always enjoyed Knockhill,” enthused the SKYCIG and Hansford Sensors-backed KX Akademy protégé, who turned 20 only a few days beforehand. “It’s a real old-school track, and the blind crests mean you go into a lot of the corners not quite knowing what you will find on the other side. It’s so much fun to drive, with every lap feeling like a rollercoaster ride. You need to strike the right balance between bravery and precision, and I just love the challenge that it presents!
“I’ve always tended to go well at Knockhill, too, winning twice in Ginetta Juniors in 2010 and again in the G50 the following year, and I headed there confident of being able to maintain our momentum from the previous rounds and fully focussed on continuing to outscore my main championship competitor Carl Breeze.”
After sagely keeping his powder dry during practice whilst his adversaries bolted on new rubber in pursuit of the top of the timesheets, Ingram proceeded to line up third at the end of a tremendously close qualifying session, missing out on a fourth pole position of the season by just 15 hundredths of a second – and being denied a front row slot by a tantalising thousandth in his JHR Developments-prepared Ginetta G55.
Significantly, however, the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star, MSA Academy member and KENNETT brand ambassador was ahead of Breeze, and he went on to hound leader Matt Nicoll-Jones all the way to the chequered flag in races one and two, palpably quicker but – given Knockhill’s famously tight-and-twisty nature – never really having any opportunity to attack as his quarry attempted to back him up into the pursuing pack.
Flashing across the line barely a tenth-of-a-second adrift in the first outing, with Breeze behind him on both occasions, the brace of runner-up spots allowed Ingram to increase his championship lead – not to mention his remarkable run of consecutive rostrum finishes.
That statistic then looked to be under genuine threat in the ITV4 live-televised, reversed-grid encounter on Sunday afternoon as he spent the first half of proceedings tucked up once more behind Nicoll-Jones, until he unleashed a mesmerising performance – a true champion’s drive – to storm his way to the top of the podium and stretch his advantage in the title standings from 107 points to 129 with three meetings left on the calendar.
“After gaining a position to fourth, I concentrated on being patient and looking after my tyres so I would be strong later in the race as the other drivers’ tyres began to fade,” explained the former Ginetta G50 Champion, Ginetta Junior Champion and British Karting Champion. “I picked Nicoll-Jones off on lap 14 and then my car really started to come alive, which enabled me to turn the wick up another notch.
“That fired me up even more, and next in my sights was Breeze. I was lapping a lot faster and after a few laps I had closed right up on him, and I could see that I was so much quicker entering the final hairpin. I knew that would realistically be my only chance to overtake, and with just a couple of laps to go, I left my braking extremely late and was able to dive up his inside.
“As expected, Carl certainly didn’t make it easy for me and we ran doorhandle-to-doorhandle for several moments, but I got the move made before setting about chasing down Andrew Watson in the lead. He was glancing in his mirrors and making mistakes, and on the penultimate lap, I came charging up behind him into the final hairpin. He locked his rear wheels and ran a little bit wide which caused him to miss the apex of the corner, and that was all the invitation I needed to sneak past.
“To fight through from fifth place and almost five seconds shy of the lead – especially around a circuit like Knockhill, where overtaking is so notoriously difficult – was immensely satisfying. It felt like my very first win all over again, really magic, and it was probably one of the best victories I’ve ever had – and most importantly of all, it has taken us another step towards where we want to be.”
