Tom Ingram pleased to sign off season with double win

Tom Ingram praised his EXCELR8 squad for ‘staying positive and not giving up on the programme’ after he closed out the 2026 British Touring Car Championship season with a double win at Brands Hatch.

Having endured a rollercoaster campaign that was packed with misfortune, the outgoing champion signed off his season with a strong showing that was headlined by wins in races one and two.

Despite failing to complete a lap in the reverse grid finale, the two-time title winners fourth and fifth victories of the year proved to be enough for him to secure a top-two finish in the Drivers’ Championship for a fifth consecutive season.

“Our plan was to use Brands Hatch as a little bit of a testing opportunity to try out some of our theories for next year, while simultaneously aiming to finish the season on a high,” said the 33-year-old.

“Race one on Sunday was a lot of fun. Aiden drove magnificently and didn’t put a wheel out-of-place or give me too many opportunities to get past. The difference in TTB also made things difficult, so I had to pick my battles wisely and I knew he had a lot of deployment so there wasn’t too much point in putting up a big fight early on.

“It was a major risk move for the lead going around the outside, but I like racing with Aiden, because I know it will always be hard but fair and respectful and it worked out perfectly. That was an excellent way to start the day.

“Josh was very fast again in race two and kept me honest, and although we had a bit of a gap, it certainly wasn’t plain sailing. It’s very easy to trip up on track limits, and if you begin to relax, you can rapidly lose concentration and pick up a silly penalty.

“Race three unfortunately didn’t last very long – I’d predicted a bit of carnage in the last one of the year, but I’d hoped it wasn’t going to involve me! I was literally a passenger and it was a big hit, so it was a shame to end the season like that.”

Reflecting on the year as a whole, Ingram added: “We haven’t had an easy run of things in 2026, but Brands Hatch proved the pace and performance we’ve had all year, which through failures or issues or just sheer bad luck, we haven’t always been able to show.

“Clearly, these results came a bit too late and we made Ash [Sutton] and NAPA Racing’s life far too easy for them, but to take three wins on the bounce at Silverstone and Brands was fantastic and demonstrates what might have been.

“Massive credit to Team VERTU for staying positive and sticking with the programme. When we knew the championship was gone, it would have been very easy to switch off but we haven’t done that in the slightest.

“We kept working and immediately turned our attentions to 2027, when we fully intend to hit the ground running – and take that title back!”