Tom Ingram re-signs with Speedworks for 2016

Tom Ingram has re-signed with Speedworks Motorsport for 2016 as the team sets its sights on the top step of the podium for the coming season.

The 2015 campaign was seen as a breakthrough year for Ingram, with the highlight of the campaign being his second place at Rockingham following a race long duel with two-time BTCC champion Jason Plato.

Another podium at the season finale was enough to secure ninth in the Teams’ Championship for Speedworks and fourth in the Independent Team’s Trophy, while Ingram himself finished 13th in the overall standings and fifth in the Independents’ Trophy.

“For me, it was a complete no-brainer to stay with Speedworks,” said the 22-year-old. “The team’s work ethic is second-to-none; everybody is ultra-professional, but at the same time they know how to have fun, which is important – this is hardly a cheap sport, so you need to make sure you’re enjoying it or else you might as well not bother.

“The second half of last year was hugely positive for us, and it was encouraging to see all the development that we had put in paying off. Our performance just got better and better, which shone through in the results with two podiums from the last three race weekends. From our point of view, the season ended too soon because we were on a roll! That has left us with a lot of unfinished business, which is massively exciting.”

“He has grown tremendously as a driver since joining the BTCC two years ago, and his form at the end of last season was superb,” added team boss Christian Dick. “Tom’s raw speed has never been in doubt, and his racecraft is now also amongst the best in the business – as Rockingham proved, he’s not afraid of getting stuck in and going wheel-to-wheel with anybody else on the grid. Reputations don’t faze him at all. Jason Plato described Tom as world-class after their battle at Rockingham last year, and I would not disagree – the kid is a champion in-waiting in my eyes.

“He shares our approach and he shares our goals, so keeping him on-board this year was extremely high on our ‘to-do’ list. Although we received interest from a number of other drivers, Tom was always our number one choice and we are delighted to have retained his services. He’s ready to take the next step and we’re ready to take the next step, so from our point of view, the start of the season really can’t come soon enough!”

Ingram’s Avensis will be on display at the Autosport International Show this coming weekend (14-17 January) alongside Speedworks’ new Honda Civic Type R for BTCC rookie Matt Simpson. With a full pre-season testing programme schedule, team boss Christian Dick is confident the team can move up the rankings and is eyeing a shot at the Independent title.

“2015 was our most successful campaign to-date in the BTCC, but we’re far from content to sit on our laurels and we need to make sure we continue pushing if we want to keep on moving forward and accomplish our objectives,” said Dick.

“A shortage of pre-season testing – due to lack of budget or deals coming together too late – has been an Achilles’ heel of ours over the past couple of years and left us somewhat on the back foot, but hopefully 2016 will be a different story and the aim is to get up-to-speed nice and early so we can really hit the ground running. There are a lot of new parts to get to grips with, so the more track time, the better.

“As soon as we left Brands Hatch in October, attentions turned towards this year and all the boys have put in a colossal effort over the winter to ensure we go into 2016 in the best shape we can possibly be. I’m so proud of every single one of them. There is such a close bond inside this team and everybody pulls together – we go about our business with minimal fuss, keep our heads down and work hard and that is reflected in the results.

“We have made it very clear from the outset that we are not here to make up the numbers; we are here to win – races and ultimately championships. We regard 2016 as the next phase of that journey, and having established ourselves as consistent top ten contenders last year, we now need to be targeting consistent podiums and our first race victory. If we can do that, a tilt at the Independents’ trophy won’t be too far away.”