Tom Ingram said that wet conditions and events leading up to the third Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race at Donington made him more careful as he cemented a 14-point series lead.
The Speedworks Motorsport driver enjoyed results of two fifth places and a second win of the season in Leicester, surpassing reigning champion Gordon Shedden at the head of the Drivers’ Championship.
Shedden was excluded from victory in the final race of the day after failing the post-race ride height check, but Ingram admitted that the performance of the Toyota Avensis all weekend was very encouraging.
“Exclusion or no exclusion [for Shedden], it’s been a solid, solid weekend for us”, Ingram told The Checkered Flag after the Donington visit.
“Coming into the weekend we didn’t know what to expect with the ballast we were carrying; even with testing we did on Media Day with the weight we didn’t know how good it would be.”
The final race of the day took place following a severe downpour, red-flagged initially due to several excursions through the field on the first start. Ingram said that he deliberately played it cautiously to avoid an unnecessary retirement.
“It’s amazing to come away with the points that we have”, he added. “Most importantly, we’ve come out the other end of it. That’s why I was driving like I was in that last race because I was more concerned about throwing it off.
“I made myself a bit of a sitting duck but I was happy to pedal around for sixth and take the points with it. We really didn’t expect to get a win today as well so I’m incredibly happy with that.”
Ingram takes a 14-point lead over Colin Turkington to Thruxton on 6-7 May, a track at which he hopes to see the Avensis continue its form with success ballast on board.
“It was amazing to be in a completely different mindset where we had 37 kilos on and it felt like the car had lost weight. It’s weird. We’re testing at Thruxton so we’ll see how it feels there.”
As with the rest of the paddock and fans alike, Ingram also left the circuit very much with the condition of British F4 Championship racer Billy Monger on his mind following a serious accident with Patrik Pasma on Sunday afternoon.
“Thoughts are obviously with Billy and his family”, Ingram said. “I’ve coached him and it’s horrible to see something like that.”
We at The Checkered Flag would also like to extend our best wishes to Billy on a speedy recovery.
Championship Points After Round 2/10:
[table id=1891 /]
Photo: BTCC Media
