Tom Ingram: ‘Second a good place to be’

Tom Ingram insisted he was pleased to qualify second on the grid for the opening race of the weekend at Thruxton – insisting that the gap to pole-sitting BTCC points leader Ash Sutton wasn’t as big as it appeared.

The defending champion managed to edge ahead of Josh Cook to snare a place on the front row alongside Sutton, who made it four poles from four for the Motorbase-run NAPA Racing squad this season.

Ingram would end up two-tenths behind Sutton on the time sheets in his Bristol Street Motors-backed Hyundai but said he felt there was more in the car going into race day.

“Second is a good place to be,” he said, “and it’s nice around here as there are so many things that need to align to get a good lap from the car. You only need one variable like the wind changing direction or a bit of traffic on your quickest lap – which I actually got with Ash – and it can make a big difference.

“I feel we are lacking a little but but not as much as the gap may suggest at the front, I think there was probably a tenth of a second or so in it.

“Tomorrow is when it really matters as there is only the one point on offer today. It would be nice to get it, but the big points are still to come.”