Photo: BTCC

Tom Ingram sets focus on first “home” podium

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Tom Ingram says his focus is firmly on securing a first podium finish on home soil for Speedworks when the BTCC heads for Oulton Park this weekend for the third round of the year.

Ingram picked up his 31st career podium last time out at Brands Hatch at the wheel of his Toyota Corolla and now makes the trip to Cheshire looking to secure more silverware at the only circuit where he has yet to register a top three finish since moving into the BTCC back in 2014.

The former Independents champion sits fourth in the standings despite being forced to retire from the final race at Brands Hatch two weeks ago and will now seek to recover some of the ground lost in the title race in the first of the latest back-to-back rounds on the condensed calendar.

“Eighteen BTCC races at Oulton Park and still no podiums – I clearly need to pull my finger out this year!” he said. “Being serious, though, in recent seasons we’ve generally gone there with a decent chunk of weight inside the car, and if there’s anywhere on the calendar that you don’t want to be carrying much ballast, it’s Oulton.

“Not only does the extra weight hurt your qualifying form due to the nature of the lap, but it’s also extremely difficult to overtake there and work your way through the field, so it can condition your whole weekend – as we know from painful experience.

“Three years ago, we turned up at Oulton leading the championship and scored just a single point, so in a roundabout sort of way, losing a bit of ground in race three at Brands Hatch might have been a blessing in disguise.

“It’s a unique circuit – really full-on and incredibly technical – and with every corner feeding into the next you can’t afford to make even one mistake, because it will cost you the whole way round the lap. That’s a challenge I’ve always enjoyed.

“Overall, I think we go there in good shape. We made a lot of changes over the weekend at Brands Hatch that resulted in a big step forward, and whilst we missed out on another decent points haul in the final race through no fault of our own, hopefully we’ll be able to recover some lost ground on Speedworks’ home soil.”