Tom Ingram clinches second BTCC title with victory in race two

Tom Ingram has secured an unassailable lead in the British Touring Car Championship standings after claiming victory in the penultimate race of the day at Brands Hatch GP.

Going into the contest holding a 37-point lead, the Hyundai i30 N driver produced a flawless drive to tally his seventh win of the season and with it, secure the Drivers’ crown for the second time in his career.

Ingram started the race in fifth place but on the soft tyre, it wasn’t long before he was on the move and by the end of the first lap he had already made his way up to third place.

That soon became second on lap two and with just his team-mate Tom Chilton in front of him, the impending double champion cruised past his Hyundai stablemate to assume a lead he would ultimately never lose.

Ingram did have to contend with two safety car restarts, the first caused by Charles Rainford after an incident with Aron Taylor-Smith and the second which again included Taylor-Smith, who was nerfed into the Druids gravel trap by team-mate Josh Cook.

Despite having the pack breathing down his neck on both restarts, Ingram held his nerve impeccably to triumph in style.

Behind him, four-time champion Ash Sutton claimed runner-up laurels in not only the championship but also the race also, having hustled his Alliance Racing Ford Focus ST from ninth to second.

Completing the podium was Senna Proctor who got the better of race one winner Dan Cammish in the latter stages to set up a titanic battle for the Manufacturer/Constructors’ crown in the final race of the season.

Cammish would ultimately slip behind Gordon Shedden while Dan Rowbottom finished hot on the heels of his Ford stablemate.

Rounding out the top ten was outgoing champion Jake Hill, Josh Cook, Aiden Moffat – who has been drawn on pole position for the reverse grid finale – and Adam Morgan.

The final race of the season at Brands Hatch is scheduled to begin at 17:30.