Our words and pics as Speedworks’ Tom Ingram takes maximum Indy points at Oulton…
There were no outright podiums for Tom Ingram and Stockport based Speedworks Motorsport this weekend, but maximum Independents points in all three rounds of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship buoyed Ingram and the Team, at their ‘home’ track.
Oulton Park, in Cheshire, was the scene. Under glorious blue skies, and with a 40,000 plus crowd packed in to the leafy parkland track, Ingram and Speedworks impressed by setting their stall out early, and claiming top sport in both Free Practice sessions. They then backed up their pace claiming a spot on the second row of the grid, just 0.078secs separated them from the Pole Position time of Colin Turkington’s Subaru – a first in the BTCC for the Japanese manufacturer – Tom would start the first of three Races in 4th place.
Ingram claimed his first Independents win of the day with 5th overall, bumped down the order by former BTCC Champions Jason Plato [Subaru] and Gordon Shedden [Honda], and claiming 5th spot from the Honda of Daniel Lloyd on the last lap of the Race. Up front, history was being made, as Turkington claimed a maiden victory for Subaru in the British Touring Car Championship, with teammate Jason Plato in third.
Race Two seemed fairly straightforward, as the top six places finished in the same order they completed the opening lap, with BMW’s Sam Tordoff taking victory, and Ingram once again claiming maximum Independents points.
Race Three was a much tougher affair for Tom, having selected to use the Soft tyre in the final Race of the day. Starting third, Ingram hung on to the final podium position, after losing a place to Shedden, but making one up from the MG of Josh Cook, Tom hung on to third with an increasingly long line of traffic behind as the Soft tyres ‘went off’. Cook behind couldn’t find a way past, as Ingram did everything possible to hold on to third, and in the end, it wasn’t Cook who was to pass, a frustrated Plato nipped through to claim third spot, demoting Tom to 4th, still however, topping the Independents pile.
“Honestly, I’m absolutely over the moon with this, it’s been a better weekend than any of the others, I’d take this over a pole and a win”, explained Ingram. “That was the first time it’s gone to plan, we had three decent finishes. We didn’t have the pace to be on the podium this weekend, and we need to have a look at where that’s gone, but certainly for the points that we’ve got I think it’s very, very good”.
Ingram sits fourth in the Independents Trophy after 12 of 30 Rounds, whilst lying tenth in the overall Championship standings. Speedworks Motorsport leave Oulton Park in third place in the Independents Team Trophy, whilst sitting seventh in the overall HiQ Teams Championship.
The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship next travels to North Yorkshire, as Croft Circuit plays host to the next Round on the 19th June.
You can see a selection of our photos of the BTCC at Oulton Park HERE.