BTCC sophomore forced to dig deep around ultra-quick ThruxtonBrace of top ten finishes the reward for a gritty performanceBRDC SuperStar showcases racecraft and overtaking prowess

Tom Ingram shook off a troubled qualifying session and lowly grid slot to charge through the field to a brace of top ten finishes as the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship called into high-speed Thruxton – gaining a staggering 13 positions in the final race alone to underscore his superb overtaking prowess. Having starred in the Brands Hatch curtain-raiser, Ingram and Speedworks Motorsport then endured a difficult time at Donington Park, meaning the talented young Bucks ace – the architect of a remarkable maiden campaign in the ITV4 live-televised championship last year – headed for Hampshire bidding to get back on-track around the fastest circuit in the country. Ingram has always excelled at Thruxton, and it was there that the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) SuperStar achieved his first car racing podium in 2009, first victory in 2010 and first race weekend clean sweep in 2011 – not to mention the best qualifying spot of his outstanding BTCC rookie season with fifth place. After struggling in practice, however – lapping just 12th and 16th amongst the 28 high-calibre contenders, composed of some of the very best touring car protagonists on the planet – Ingram lined up a disappointed 17th for race one, almost 1.5 seconds shy of the leading pace and, worse still, at a loss to explain why. Significant changes were made overnight in an effort to extract more performance from the #80 Toyota Avensis, and they transformed the car, enabling the Hansford Sensors-supported KX Akademy graduate and MSA Academy member to fight up through the order in race one and snatch tenth position on the very last lap, pulling off some bold manoeuvres along the way and taking the chequered flag barely a couple of seconds adrift of the driver in sixth. From 16th on the grid for race two in what is by common consent the world’s most fiercely-contested tin-top series, Ingram again made early progress and was running inside the points in 12th – in the midst of a frenetic scrap over eighth – when differential woes spelt an early bath, his first retirement of the year. That consigned the three-time Ginetta Champion and former British Karting Champion to just 23rd on the grid for the weekend’s third and final encounter, right down in the cheap seats. Not to be outdone by misfortune, he picked up an impressive seven places on the opening lap alone – as well as a few battle scars – and showcased his excellent racecraft to storm through to tenth once more, reeling in the multi-car tussle over sixth during the closing stages. His sixth top ten finish from nine races in 2015, the results maintained Ingram’s 12th spot in the overall standings and fifth position in the Independents’ Trophy heading next to Oulton Park in a month’s time. It was, he reflected, a happier conclusion to a somewhat trying weekend.“I love Thruxton and I’ve always enjoyed driving there,” acknowledged the BTCC sophomore – at only 21, the second-youngest competitor in the field. “We clearly had a tough weekend at Donington, but we tested in-between in an attempt to rectify the issues we’d had there and felt we’d taken a step forward; it’s important to remember that this Avensis is very new, and we’re still finding out what works and what doesn’t.“We struggled throughout practice with the set-up; Thruxton is such a unique circuit on the calendar in terms of the demands it places on the car, and despite trying a different approach for qualifying, those problems persisted. The most frustrating aspect was that the balance actually felt ok but the lap time just wasn’t there, which made it difficult to pinpoint what was wrong.“We made some big changes ahead of Sunday, and thankfully, they paid off. We were quick and consistent throughout, and the first race was good fun – I pulled off some strong moves and to finish inside the top ten from where we’d started demonstrated our fighting spirit.“In race two, I’d already collected bodywork damage by the time I got to the Complex on the opening lap, but in truth, we were nursing the differential right from the word ‘go’, and it got so bad midway through that I had no choice but to come in and park the car. That was obviously a shame, because another top ten was definitely on the cards.“The Speedworks boys did a great job to get the Avensis fixed again in time for race three, although from the back of the grid, I thought to even crack the top 15 would be an achievement. That said, I got a fantastic start, gained a lot of ground on the first lap and then just focussed on continuing to move forward. The safety car did help us a bit if I’m being honest, in that it bunched the whole field up, but I still had to make the passes – and if we’d been able to start further up the grid, I think it could have been an entirely different story.“Still, we left Thruxton in a much more positive mood than we’d been in after qualifying, and we came away with about the best we could have done considering we began on the back foot. We’ll go testing before Oulton, which hopefully will allow us to hit the ground running there in a much better position. We’re still discovering more about this car each time we take to the track – and once we successfully unlock its secrets, I’m very confident in its ultimate potential.”