Tom Ingram: “It’ll be like Bambi on ice tomorrow”

Tom Ingram admits that the opening laps of Sunday’s BTCC races at Snetterton could be “like Bambi on ice” as drivers battle for grip in tricky, cold conditions.

Drivers were faced with track temperatures that barely hit double figures during both practice and qualifying at the Norfolk circuit, in stark contrast to the conditions usually seen during the traditional August date.

Ingram would deal with the conditions well to put his Toyota Corolla third on the grid in the new two-part qualifying session, helped in no small part by a smart strategy call from the Speedworks team.

“I’d say qualifying was like a swan,” he said. “On the outside, it probably looked quite relaxed to people watching at home, but behind the scenes there was a lot going on. It’s been a tricky day with the weather being so cold and windy; it’s been really miserable.

“Everyone has struggled with tyre temperature so you could never really get the car to feel where you wanted it to be. Spencer, my engineer, pulled a masterstroke today as we got a lap in in Q1 that was good enough to put us through to Q2 and then we spent the final five minutes warming tyres for Q2, which worked well for us.

“We’re ahead of Ash [Sutton] and Dan [Cammish] on the grid and just behind Colin, so we have something to build on.”

Ingram predicted that similar weather on race day would make the start something of a lottery as drivers battled for grip.

“The first few laps will be entertaining as the rear-wheel drive cars are going to struggle to get the thing stopped at hairpins, and we’ll have oversteer through the high-speed stuff,” he said. “It’s going to be like Bambi on ice for a bit, but we’re in a positive place and with the inside line for turn one, I’m confident we can make a good start and make progress.”