Tom Ingram: “It was a one shot move”

Tom Ingram admitted that his pass for the lead in the final race of the weekend at Knockhill had been a “one shot move” after the EXCELR8 driver was able to secure his third win of the BTCC campaign.

Ingram had gone into the weekend sitting second to Ash Sutton in the standings but looking to fight back from a tough weekend at Oulton Park, that had yielded just a single top ten finish after mechanical issues in qualifying.

Carrying extra ballast into the weekend thanks to his championship position, Ingram was focused on the long game; well aware that qualifying and the opening race would be tough around a circuit where additional ballast can have a major impact.

Having qualified in ninth spot, Ingram took tenth in the opening race having elected to run the medium tyre at the first opportunity and he followed it up with sixth in race two.

That meant he lost points to Sutton in both races, but in the finale, he battled his way through to take the win – the highlight being a fine move on Stephen Jelley for the lead at the hairpin when he dived down the inside at the last possible moment.

“We knew it was going to be tough going into the weekend,” he said. “Knockhill is probably the hardest circuit on the calendar for carrying weight in a front wheel-drive car, with the long drag uphill out of the final hairpin onto the start/finish straight, and we went into race day with our minds firmly focussed on playing the long game.
 
“When we got to race three, I could see I was a little bit better than Stephen into the hairpin and I sized him up a few times but I knew I couldn’t rush it as I might only get one shot at getting the lead. If I’d shown my hand and not go through, he would have known to cover me off so when the chance arose, I had to take it – I didn’t need a second invitation!

“Over the course of the weekend, we have lost points to Ash, but the win at the end has clawed a few back in and that was important for the championship.”

Ingram also admitted post-race that he had faced concerns about whether or not he would even make it the finish when the Hyundai developed an electrical issue.
 
“We had a few electrical gremlins in the car, which meant I had to lift off the throttle each time I changed gear – and you change gear quite frequently at Knockhill!” he said.

“We also had a slight misfire, which cost us some straight-line speed, and the dashboard kept lighting up like a Christmas tree with alarms constantly telling me I had either high or low fuel pressure – I genuinely wasn’t sure we would finish the race.
 
“Still, we made it and it was great to finish the weekend on a high.”