Ingram puts one hand on ‘Indy’ champions trophy

Tom Ingram and Cheshire based Speedworks Motorsport took one step closer to claiming both the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship’s Independent Driver and Team championships, with a win, a second, and a fourth place finish at Silverstone at the weekend.

Ingram dominated a shortened race one after disposing of pole-sitter Jack Goff [Honda] off the start, claiming his fourth win of the season, and extending his ‘Indy’ title lead of rival Goff in the process.

Another great start gave Tom the lead from pole, but the hard charging Goff nicked the lead on the run in to Becketts on lap three, where he would remain until the chequered flag dropped, Ingram best of the rest in second.

Tom Ingram. Speedworks Motorsport‘Reverse-grid’ race three was a lively affair that saw the Speedworks’ Toyota Avensis starting seventh on the grid for the final race of the day. Ingram ran as high as second place but eventually had to settle for fourth place. Hard charging, former BTCC champion, Matt Neal coming through from twelfth on the grid to claim the win, at the wheel of his works’ Honda Civic.

“I’m delighted with the win” enthused Tom Ingram, talking to btcc.net. “It was a bit of a strange one with that late incident. We had that safety car and you’re just focusing on where you need to drop the hammer and on keeping temperatures up. I got the jump on the restart and all of a sudden, I got the call that there would be a red flag.

“I really didn’t expect to start as well as I did as the right side of the grid was wet. I thought I’d be down in fourth or fifth but when they matter I seem to be able to pull them out of the bag. When the rain came down, it was the hardest thing. I had a huge moment at Copse – as soon as I hit the brakes, I slid on.

“The worst place to be is the lead in that situation. Everyone uses you as a judge of the conditions and inevitably it’s the leader that falls off. To take another overall win as well as the Independents’ win is fantastic to get us back on track after that mid-season dip.”

The BTCC moves on to Brands Hatch, in Kent, for the season finale, on the 1st October.