Mixed feelings for Tom Ingram after qualifying

Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram was left with mixed feelings after qualifying at Snetterton, declaring himself pleased with his starting position but scratching his head over a near 0.9s gap to pole man Jack Goff.

Ingram ran in the top four throughout the two practice sessions in his Toyota Avensis and replicated this performance in qualifying, eventually dropping to fifth following Matt Neal’s successful appeal against his ride height failure.

The 23-year-old said he and the Speedworks squad would be burning the midnight oil to get to the bottom of the speed deficit to the very top of the grid ahead of race day.

“We’re pleased with qualifying because we’re in the mix of where we want to be, considering the qualifying we’ve had the last two weekends. But we’re not so pleased that we’re eight tenths off,” said Ingram to TouringCarTimes.

“Credit to Jack [Goff] – he’s done a lap which is pretty impressive. I’d be very interested to see how he’s done it, whether he’s got away with a bit of track limits or something! But four tenths clear of Colin [Turkington] is very impressive, so credit to him.

“Unfortunately if a touring car looks planted it means it isn’t fast! It needs to be on the edge, and ours wasn’t today. But tomorrow we have another shot at getting it right, and I’m sure we will get it. It’s going to be a late night going through everything to try and get the answers.”

Looking ahead to Sunday, Ingram said he wasn’t overly confident about his speed over a race distance, but felt a number of his rivals were in the same boat.

“Race pace is one of my concerns, to be brutally honest. But I think most people are struggling, and I don’t think we are in any worse a position,” he said.

“Also, I’m not sure what is going to go on with the weather. If it stays as it says it will be cool, which would be nicer, but it might rain for race three. Who knows!”

The overall speed of the field is still slightly shy of record pace at Snetterton, a situation which has been replicated at a number of circuits this year.

On this, Ingram added: “Most places we’ve been to this year we’ve not been in lap record-breaking territory, which is quite weird considering everyone’s got a bit more power, we’ve got a bigger, wider tyre…but somehow everyone is a bit slower.

“It’s a bitter pill to swallow when you’ve spent a load of money on development, but it’s just one of those things.”

Ingram is currently fifth in the standings, 48 points behind leader Gordon Shedden ahead of the first race tomorrow.