Tom Ingram: “It was a drift machine”

Tom Ingram said his Toyota Avensis had been “like a drift machine” after qualifying for the BTCC season finale at Brands Hatch.

Ingram will line up 19th on the grid for the opening race of the weekend having struggled with the handling of his Speedworks-run car throughout the session, and will be two places behind title rival Colin Turkington.

A change to the set-up of the car prior to the session didn’t help his chances, with the team set to revert back to the set-up seen in practice for the opening race on Sunday.

“The car was a drift machine,” he said. “We struggled in that session and although went quicker than we did in FP1, the balance in the car wasn’t there and it just didn’t like the corners at all. Every time I turned in, it just went sideways.

“We know why and what caused it, so we’ll now revert what we went with for race day, and it’s tomorrow that matters. Okay so today has been important in terms of where we line up, but the races have to be our focus.”

Admitting that he hadn’t expected to fight right at the sharp end of the grid, Ingram will now seek to try and battle ahead of Turkington to keep his title challenge alive in Sunday’s opening race.

“We didn’t expect to be fighting for pole and the pace of the Hondas with little weight means it would have been out of the question,” he said. “We thought the top ten might have been possible but the focus has to be try and outscore Colin in race one tomorrow and we’ll see what happens from there.”