Tom Ingram doubles up in rain-shortened second race
Tom Ingram secured a second win of the weekend at Silverstone as the fight for the BTCC title threatened to explode during a drama filled race.
Ingram had started the race from pole after his race one victory and held his place at the head of the field through the early stages ahead of the Vauxhall of Jason Plato.
However, after ten laps of the race, Plato made a move for position at the end of the Wellington Straight which unsettled the Toyota and delayed his Astra enough to allow Tom Oliphant to jump ahead into the lead.
A safety car was then called after Adam Morgan suffered a spin off in his Ciceley-run Mercedes, with rain arriving as the field circulated behind the safety car.
On the restart, Oliphant ran wide to allow Ingram through into the lead and he the Speedworks man was out front in the worsening conditions when the red flag was thrown after 19 laps.
The big dramas were behind however, with the title battle swinging one way and the other before points leader Colin Turkington emerged with an extended lead.
Despite finishing race one down in 14th place, Turkington was able to quickly work his way forward into the top ten in the early stages of the race and by the end of lap six, had edged ahead of WSR team-mate Andrew Jordan into ninth.
Up into seventh, Turkington and Dan Cammish then ran wide at Brooklands as Jordan closed back in, with Turkington managing to get ahead of Plato’s Vauxhall just before the safety car was deployed.
Jordan had also got ahead of Cammish as the pair came round to the safety car boards but there would be confusion over which driver of the pair was ahead, with the two making contact behind the safety car before Cammish moved ahead before the restart – a move that left Jordan clearly angered post-race.
After the restart, Turkington would make the most of Oliphant running wide to jump up into second place to secure 18 vital championship points, with Cammish following him home in third place after getting ahead of Plato; the Honda man left to wonder what might have been without the stoppage as he chased down Turkington ahead.
Plato crossed the line fourth ahead of BTC Racing pair Josh Cook and Chris Smiley, with a disappointed Oliphant in seventh and an an angry Jordan eighth – having slipped back to third in the standings.
Mike Bushell and Mike Simpson rounded out the top ten, with eleventh for Ash Sutton giving him the reverse grid pole for race three.
Matt Neal was forced to retire from the race and dropped out of title contention along with with Sutton, Plato and Tom Chilton – leaving six drivers still in the mix for honours.
Turkington now leads Cammish by eleven points with Jordan a further five in arrears and Cook 26 off top spot.
Race three is scheduled to take place at 17.20.
