after ruling ‘The Rock’
Good as viewing indubitably is around Rockingham Motor Speedway, Tom Ingram’s rivals did not see which way he went as the fiercely-contested Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup reconvened in Northamptonshire – where a sublime double victory vaulted the talented young High Wycombe ace to the brink of the coveted crown.
Ingram has been very much the driving force in the British Touring Car Championship-supporting Ginetta GT Supercup in 2013, and he headed to Rockingham – Europe’s fastest racing circuit – eager to put more clear air between himself and his pursuers in the championship standings.
“Our aim was simple – to maintain the form we’ve shown all season,” he affirmed. “I’ve always loved Rockingham; it isn’t like other UK circuits, with its dramatic combination of high-speed oval banking and a tight-and-twisty, technical infield section. That makes it a very tricky place not only to set your car up to begin with, but then to get the best out of it on the track, too, and having enjoyed a dominant weekend there last year – just three weeks on from a hefty start-line shunt at Knockhill – we returned targeting a repeat performance and a clean sweep.”
After struggling with the handling of his Ginetta G55 during opening practice, some sterling work by his JHR Developments crew saw to it that normal business was resumed in the afternoon as Ingram lapped a fraction shy of four-tenths-of-a-second quicker than any of his adversaries.
In a wet-but-drying qualifying session the following day, the 20-year-old SKYCIG and Hansford Sensors-backed KX Akademy protégé sagely bided his time as he waited for the optimum moment to launch his bid for the top spot. His reward was a commanding fourth pole position of the season – and as an added bonus, chief title threat Carl Breeze was all the way down in tenth, more than 1.3 seconds adrift. Race one would swiftly confirm Ingram’s supremacy.
“Unlike last year at Rockingham, I got a lightning start and after that I was able to control proceedings throughout,” he related. “Thanks to the JHR boys, the car felt absolutely mega – it was really easy to drive, and I honestly don’t think we could have improved it in any way. I set fastest lap early on, and then we had the pace to comfortably pull away.”
With the stopwatch bearing witness to his metronomic consistency – as he set not just the fastest lap but indeed all eight fastest laps of the race – the manner in which Ingram swept across the track to jubilantly accept both the chequered flag and the deserved plaudits of his team spoke volumes for the significance of the result.
Given even more reason to celebrate as he was awarded the prestigious KX ‘Yellow Jersey’ at the traditional Saturday night ‘KX Question Time’ event – in recognition of his spectacular success north of the border at Knockhill – the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star, MSA Academy member and KENNETT brand ambassador was subsequently forced to think on his feet when the rain began to fall shortly before the start of Sunday’s ITV4 live-televised outing.
As some of his competitors hurriedly switched over to wet-weather rubber, Ingram boldly elected to brave it out on slick tyres in the belief that the track would dry. Whilst he was initially left to doubt the wisdom of his choice, it proved to be inspired – to the extent that after just three of the race’s 18 laps, he was already a staggering 12 seconds clear of the chasing pack.
“On the warming-up lap, the car was literally all over the place,” he recalled. “At that point, I must admit I was thinking, ‘how on earth am I going to hold onto this?!’ but the circuit actually dried out pretty quickly. It looked like a lot of drivers were being very cautious and tentative in the conditions, but I was able to find the grip and pull away. That said, I could honestly never have expected to win by the margin that we did!”
That margin was a nigh-on unbelievable 30.8 seconds when the flag came down, as the former Ginetta G50 Champion, Ginetta Junior Champion and British Karting Champion routinely lapped up to three seconds faster than anybody else on the track – defending champion Breeze included.
Upholding his unblemished record of Senior level success at Rockingham after similarly tallying double triumphs there in both 2011 and 2012, his ninth victory of an outstanding campaign extended his unbroken podium run this year to 20 – and most importantly of all, represented a giant leap towards a third car racing crown in only four years. So far ahead is Ingram, indeed, that although there are five races of the season remaining, a solitary eighth place in the opening encounter at Silverstone at the end of September will finish the job.
“It was a massively important weekend for us and about as perfect an outcome as it’s possible to have,” he concluded, “but whilst the title is now obviously within reach, I am still approaching everything race-by-race. If you go into a meeting not aiming to win, then frankly, there is not much point in turning up – and I’m determined to seal this championship in style.”
