- Two-time BTCC champion adds to victory count in penultimate outing of 2026
- Team VERTU star extends unrivalled modern-day record in Northants
- Bucks-born ace targeting further race wins in forthcoming season finale
Ingram is the most successful driver on the current BTCC grid at the celebrated ‘Home of British Motorsport’, and he entered the event as the race lap record-holder around its compact but challenging, 1.64-mile ‘National’ layout.
Be that as it may, with only five seconds per lap of TOCA Turbo Boost (TTB) at his disposal by dint of his championship position – around a track where the extra power makes a big difference, with little opportunity to make up the deficit – the talented Bucks-born ace knew qualifying would be an uphill battle.
With more than two-thirds of the high-calibre, 23-strong field benefitting from the maximum 20-second deployment, he was restricted to a lowly 14th position, pulling off a spectacular save after sliding sideways into Brooklands in evidence of just how hard he was having to push.
A characteristically committed opening salvo in Saturday’s ‘Race to Pole’ immediately gained Ingram three spots, but stuck in a classic mid-pack squabble, he subsequently oscillated up and down the order on his way to 12th.
Opting to run the more favourable soft-compound Goodyear tyres in Sunday’s curtain-raising contest, the Team VERTU star made good use of them to swiftly climb to seventh, only to find himself collateral damage on lap two when a collision at Brooklands collected his Hyundai i30N – the #80 EXCELR8 Motorsport-prepared machine once again proving to be a magnet for ill-fortune. The contact sent him tumbling all the way down to 22nd, from where he fought through to 13th at the chequered flag to salvage a few points.
Despite making a bright start to move up into the top ten in race two, with his medium-compound rubber taking longer to come on-song, Ingram was soon shuffled back to 14th. After settling into a rhythm, however, he began scything assertively past his adversaries and with his headlights ablaze, he demoted Josh Cook, Mikey Doble, Tom Chilton, Gordon Shedden, Chris Smiley and Aiden Moffat in quick succession to wind up eighth – the best-placed driver not on soft tyres.
That earned the two-time BTCC champion a front row berth on the partially-reversed grid for the day’s finale, with rain rendering the track surface wet and sending competitors on a journey into the unknown. Following a circumspect start, once he got into the groove, Ingram would prove to be unstoppable.
In front of the live ITV4 television cameras and a capacity on-site crowd, the 33-year-old pulled off bold round-the-outside passes on both Árón Taylor-Smith and Dan Rowbottom to reclaim second before hunting down and determinedly relieving Moffat of the lead at mid-distance.
Effortlessly pulling away, a succession of fastest laps at one stage carried Ingram more than five seconds clear of closest pursuer, Ash Sutton, as he consummately conquered the conditions to seal an emphatic 43rd win of his glittering BTCC career – extending his stellar Silverstone record courtesy of a tenth victory at the circuit in as many years.
The Coventry-based racer will duly travel to Brands Hatch’s legendary former Formula 1 venue on 10-11 October in possession of a five-point advantage over Dan Cammish in the scrap for the championship runner-up spoils – and fired-up to sign off from a difficult title defence in style.
Tom Ingram, Driver, Team VERTU, said:
“First and foremost, huge congratulations to Ash [Sutton] and NAPA Racing on winning the title. On our side, it was a good weekend. The car felt strong on Saturday, but around Silverstone, when you’re fighting against people with 15 seconds-per-lap more boost, that’s a huge deficit in race trim and you can’t really do a lot – they can literally just drive straight past!
“On Sunday, we didn’t get what we wanted out of the soft tyre in race one, so we bolted on the medium for race two. It was nice – and rare – to have a full allocation of TTB, and I tried to hold it back until towards the end. Our pace was good, but I was aware we were never going to be able to make a huge amount of progress against the guys around us on the softs, so I was pleased to finish eighth.
“The plan had been to get into the reversed grid draw to give ourselves a chance in race three, and that worked out well. Having had no prior wet running over the weekend, the rain reset everything, and my aim was to stay in the mix early on and play the longer game with regard to boost and tyre wear.
“I gave away a couple of positions to begin with, but I wasn’t stressed and patiently bided my time in the belief that it would come back to us, which it did. There was a lot of clean, fair and respectful racing, which was really enjoyable, and having been needing a good result for quite a while, it felt fairly emotional to finally achieve it.
“We’ve clearly not had the cleanest run or the best of years in terms of luck – the cards simply haven’t fallen our way – but we’ve worked so hard as a team, continuously plugging away, and it felt like the win had been a long time coming. It was a cracking result, and a fantastic way to round off the weekend in (Team Manager) Marvin Humphries’ 750th BTCC race. He’s an absolute legend of the paddock, so this one was for him.
“Ash has obviously got everything sewn up now, but there are still three wins to play for and I just want to go to Brands Hatch GP – a circuit I really enjoy – and have some fun!”
Images: Jakob Ebrey Photography