Tom Ingram: “The Corolla is now like the Avensis”

Tom Ingram said his new Toyota Corolla had been “like the Avensis again” after securing his second BTCC win of the season at Snetterton.

Having won with the car in the reverse grid race at Donington earlier in the year, Ingram secured pole for the sixth meeting of the campaign in Norfolk and converted it into victory with a lights-to-flag drive in race one.

The Speedworks driver looked set to repeat the feat in race two as he again maintained his place at the head of the field, despite having the soft-tyre shod BMW of Colin Turkington putting him under pressure from behind.

An issue with the turbo wastegate on the car would result in a loss of power that ultimately robbed Ingram of the chance to stay out front as he instead limped to the finish in 23rd, but he came from the back of the grid to eighth in race three despite being on the less favoured hard tyre.

“It’s been a really good weekend for us and I’m really happy,” he reflected. “It feels like we are back in the hunt now whereas previously we weren’t quite there. The car is like the Avensis again and we’ve taken a big step forwards.

“The performance we were able to put in in race one was absolutely stonking and I feel I was controlling race two until the issue with the wastegate. I’m sure we would have won that one too.

“In the final race, I was coming through no matter what tyre I was on! The car didn’t feel great, but they never do on the hard tyre, and I’m happy we could move forwards and didn’t just have to wait for people to fall off or make a mistake.

“There are a few areas where we are still lacking, but all the work that has gone in over the summer break has been positive and I have a really good feeling about where we are now with the car.”