Speedworks Motorsport left the latest round of the 2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park in buoyant mood with the Cheshire-based team top the Independents standings and driver Tom Ingram leading the overall and Independents Drivers Championships.
Ingram started race one from third on the grid in his Toyota Avensis and a blistering start saw him take the lead, only for the hard charging Aiden Moffat [Mercedes] to take the lead on lap five, where he would stay until the finish.
As the pack shuffled on lap six, Ingram dropped to fifth, and remained there as the flag dropped ten laps later.
Another great start in race two saw the former Ginetta champion third after the first tour, grabbing the lead from Moffat three laps later and never looking back, clawing out almost a four-second lead over the BMW of Rob Collard as the chequered flag fell.
The draw for the tace Three grid saw the Speedworks Avensis start from eighth place.
Starting in torrential conditions, the red flags soon flew with cars returning to the grid to retake their original grid slots. As the rain subsided, Ingram claimed sixth position at the flag, and with the exclusion of race-winning Gordon Shedden [Honda] as his car failed the post-race ride height check, the Toyota pilot was promoted to fifth, with former champion Colin Turkington taking the win.
Speaking to btcc.net afterwards, Ingram said: “I knew we would stand a fighting chance but I honestly didn’t expect to win like that, from where we were on the grid and with a little bit of weight on-board.
“We expected it to be tough to match the pace of the BMWs, but boy, aren’t Speedworks doing a great job at the moment.
“They’re a proper set of boys and we’ve got one hell of a car. It was all about finding gaps early on, and whenever opportunities arose, I had to take them, put my car in there and hope for the best.”
Speedworks are back in action on the May 7 as the BTCC visits Thruxton in Hampshire.
