Tom Ingram tallied his first points-scoring hat-trick as the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) stopped off for the third outing on its 2014 calendar at Thruxton, but it was his scintillating raw pace over a single lap that truly turned heads around the fastest circuit in the country.
Ingram has always been a fan of the formidable Hampshire venue – one where speeds reach an eye-watering 160mph and which was the scene of his first car racing podium in 2009, first triumph in 2010 and first clean sweep in 2011. The High Wycombe ace headed there in buoyant mood and immediately lapped inside the top ten in practice, ending the two sessions respectively ninth and seventh amongst the 30 contenders behind the wheel of his Hughes-backed Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis.
Ingram subsequently maintained that progression in qualifying, raising the bar yet again by lining up an outstanding fifth on the grid for the opening encounter – the best of his fledgling BTCC career to-date and his second top six starting spot from three attempts in the ITV4 live-televised championship, commonly regarded as the world’s premier and most fiercely-contested tin-top series.
A tyre pressure error ahead of the race, however, left the blu and Hansford Sensors-supported KX Akademy graduate grappling around for grip and fighting a rearguard battle right from lights-out. Powerless to prevent his rivals from demoting him down the order, Ingram could lap no better than 22nd-fastest and to grittily cling onto 13th position and three points at the chequered flag was damage limitation and in the circumstances, something of a mini-victory in itself.
With the tyre pressure issue rectified, the 20-year-old British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) SuperStar and MSA Academy member was one of the quickest on the track for much of race two as he fought his way determinedly through the field with some superb overtaking manoeuvres. He had just scythed past MG’s Sam Tordoff for 11th place and was rapidly homing in on the driver in tenth when the red flags flew for an accident two laps from the end.
With the result counted back a lap, Ingram was classified a frustrated 12th, whilst a safety car-disrupted race three yielded 13th, leaving him in the same position in the drivers’ standings and ninth in the Independents’ Trophy – comfortably leading rookie in both. Ruing a missed opportunity, he nonetheless took the positives from his first triple points-score of the campaign and what has by any standards been an excellent start to the season.
“I love Thruxton,” reflected the three-time Ginetta Champion and former British Karting Champion. “It’s a genuine drivers’ circuit – fast, challenging, balls-out and really separates the men from the boys – and it’s always been a happy hunting-ground for me. I was looking forward to the weekend, although I was slightly nervous, too, as practice was actually my first time round there in a front wheel-drive car.
