Tom Ingram heads into this weekend at Oulton Park ninth in the British Touring Car Championship standings after a mixed time at Croft last time out but he looks ahead with fondness to a track he has had quite a lot of success on in the past.
The Speedworks Motorsport driver claimed a maiden pole there in the Ginetta Junior Championship ten years ago and despite never winning at the circuit, he has finished in the points there on 11 out of 15 occasions.
“For me, Oulton Park is one of the best race weekends of the season. From a driver’s perspective, it’s a thrill ride from start to finish, all challenging corners and undulations and massively rewarding when you get it right.” said Ingram.
Ingram is not getting ahead of himself though and wants to try to qualify in the top ten and then take it from there but he wants to set the record straight of never being on the podium at the circuit.
Qualifying counts for more than at most circuits simply because it really isn’t easy to overtake there when you start further down the order, and success ballast plays a significant role when it comes to extracting single-lap speed.
“I think the Toyota Corolla should be well-suited to the track, though, and one of the advantages of conceding a little bit of ground at Croft is that we go to Oulton carrying less weight than we have done previously. With that in mind, I see no reason why we shouldn’t be able to qualify inside the top ten and then move forward from there.
“I was reminded last week of the slightly jarring statistic that Oulton is the only circuit on the BTCC calendar at which I haven’t yet been on the podium, so one of the first objectives this weekend has to be to set that record straight…”
