Tom Ingram's Donington Park Charge Secures BTCC Fan Award

19/11/2024 12:14 Share

Tom Ingram’s stunning charge from the back of the grid to the Donington Park podium has been recognised after he was named as the winner of the inaugural BTCC Fans’ Choice Award.

The new award was created this year to give touring car fans the opportunity to cast their vote to determine the top moment of the year from a special selection put together by the BTCC Media Team.

Ingram’s stunning performance at Donington Park for what was then Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS came in the final race of the weekend after a holed radiator in race two earlier in the day had forced him to retire whilst dicing for the race win.

Stunning work from the EXCELR8-run team allowed Ingram to take his place on the final row of the grid for the weekend finale before he scythed his way through the field to finish on the podium – setting the fastest lap en-route to outscore his main championship rivals.

It was a performance widely praised across the paddock and emerged at the top of the fans voting from a shortlist of ten that also included a win for Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS at Brands Hatch thanks to Ronan Pearson.

“It’s always rewarding to win something that was chosen by the fans – it’s nice to get that acknowledgement and respect for what you’ve achieved,” Ingram said. “Even now, I still look back and re-live that race – especially the story that went with it.

“Failing to score in race two meant things looked pretty bleak in terms of the championship. In the space of two weekends, we had gone from having a healthy little points gap to suddenly playing catch-up, primarily due to circumstantial incidents outside of our control. It felt like it was slipping through our fingers.

“It also wasn’t like having to replace a punctured tyre or repair a bit of damage – we knew the only option was to change the engine, and to do that in-between races is a herculean task. It was literally all hands on deck – it had to be – and it was amazing to see some of the guys working on the other cars in the team coming across to jump onto mine.

“It was all very calm and methodical – there was no panic, no chaos, no shouting. I don’t think anybody doubted that we would get it done, and it was honestly textbook – taking the engine out and installing a new one in just an hour was an outstanding effort. I couldn’t have asked for more.

Tom Ingram

“One saving grace was that we had a full chunk of hybrid, which immediately changes your mindset because you know you have an advantage over those that don’t. From 19^th on the grid, I thought a top six finish would be a good result – but within barely two laps, we were into the top ten, which obliged us to re-evaluate our objective.

“To ultimately finish second was phenomenal. Could it have been a win with another lap or two? 100 per cent, yes. That was the only disappointment, because we came so close. It was an incredible story as it was, but to have won would have just topped it off. Still, we outscored all of our main rivals, which was the job we needed to do.

“I would rate it as the best drive of my career, simply due to how important it was. It was a genuine case of the chips being down, and we had to somehow salvage the situation. Every single lap was driven on pure adrenaline. Had we had another bad result, realistically I think our title shot would have been over. That’s how critical it was."

Ingram collected the new trophy during the annual BTCC Awards ceremony, which followed on from a successful first test of the winter for the newly-rebranded Team VERTU squad on Anglesey, where both Ingram and team-mate Tom Chilton were able to turn plenty of laps in their Hyundai i30 N Fastback machines.

“We got some useful running in and made some good progress,” he saud. “I didn’t think there was much more to come from the Hyundai, but it seems we’ve already found another few tenths.

“From having probably the fastest car this year, we’ve already made it even faster just through set-up tweaks, before we even look at any proper development – and there’s still a long winter to go before next season begins. So that’s hugely encouraging...”