Tom Ingram starred for Speedworks Motorsport on the opening weekend of the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship from Brands Hatch, collecting a trio of top-10 finishes despite so little running prior to the event.
Formerly a champion in three Ginetta categories, Ingram began his second season in BTCC again with intent, topping first practice on Saturday and qualifying ninth before sealing 10th place in race one on Sunday.
That came despite a bump from the Mercedes of Adam Morgan at Druids early in the opening encounter, before the Toyota driver secured two fine sixth place finishes to round off a weekend he felt proud of afterwards.
“It was manic, there was a lot going on”, Ingram told The Checkered Flag after race three.
“I was still hoping that more was going to kick off ahead of me, but still a great result and I’m very pleased with that to come away with three solid top-10s.
“Considering this is the first bit of running that we’ve done with the car and the first time it’s ever run on softs, we can be pleased with that.”
The Toyota Avensis, although present at Donington Park’s media day, had not turned a wheel until a recent Oulton Park run for the youngster.
Work was therefore was rewarded during the two days at Brands Hatch when it mattered most, Ingram admitting he entered completely blind as to the real pace of the updated Avensis.
He added: “We did a test at Oulton Park last week and then, the car felt good. I could already feel that it was going to be strong.
“I couldn’t really say where we were going to end up. I was aiming for three solid top-10 results and we’ve managed to achieve that, but as I said, we didn’t have any ideas as to where we would be.
“All I wanted to do was keep out of trouble and get some decent results, which we have done.”
The trio of enticing results in Kent put the Speedworks Motorsport man eighth in the overall Drivers’ Championship, 11 points from the top spot and fourth in the Independents’ title chase after the first of 10 meetings.
On his thoughts for Donington in two weekends’ time, Ingram simply said: “Excited, very excited!”
