Tom Ingram “ready to take more risks” in title battle

Tom Ingram says he is ready to take more risks in an attempt to close the gap to championship leader Colin Turkington after qualifying 19th on the grid for the penultimate meeting of the BTCC season at Silverstone.

Ingram will line up just behind his rival on the grid for race one after both found themselves back in the pack with their ballast heavy cars, and needing to make forward progress to challenge for points.

With Turkington leading by more than 40 points in the standings, Ingram will seek to try and outscore the Team BMW driver on race day but also said he was wary about one of the other men still in contention for the crown.

“The car feels good and is doing what we want but we’re just not quick enough with the weight onboard,” he said. “There are some places we can improve but take the weight out and we’ll be there after race one and right in the mix.

“In race one we have to try and outscore Colin as much as we can because we need to try and claw some points back. He is vulnerable on two strikes whereas I have none, so I can afford to take more risks. I’m not saying I can just fire people off but I have the option to push that bit harder whereas Colin has to be careful not to pick up a penalty.

“Andrew Jordan is the one to worry about because he is right up there near the front and he is going to come away from Silverstone with some good points and right in the mix. By the end of race two, I expect him to right there with me and Ash [Sutton], so we have to take the same approach we have taken all season, try and get as many points as we can from this weekend and then head on to Brands Hatch.”