Great weekend at Donington sees Tom Ingram cruise into championship lead
If you’ve been following us on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ you will be well aware of how our Ginetta G55 Super Cup driver Tom Ingram fared during racing at the weekend. For those that don’t – here’s a comprehensive round up of the action from Donington Park!
Seemingly unable to put a foot wrong, qualifying once again started strongly. Fast pace combined with nerves of steel meant Tom was unlucky to miss out on pole by only three tenths of a second! Unable to improve his position in the race, Tom finished second behind 2012 champion, Carl Breeze, but with a fastest lap under his belt.
Onto race two and he was even closer to the the top spot, narrowly missing out on the lead by two tenths of a second. “I held my position at the start, but then got forced sideways and was sent bouncing across the grass on cold tyres heading down towards Craner Curves,” said Tom. “Later on the opening lap I was then boxed out wide, which dropped me to seventh. It was only in the very closing stages that I realised all was not lost and, going into the last lap, I was right up behind Matt Nicoll-Jones in second place. I got a good run on him through Craner Curves and we battled side-by-side as he tried to hang on around the outside. But I got the job done, which was tremendously satisfying and I was over-the-moon to end up second. I genuinely never thought I would claw my way back that far after the first few laps.”
The final race of the day also saw Tom achieve a podium finish, opening up a 15 point lead in the super cup standings. “Coming off the back of the win at Brands Hatch, I was feeling positive and really looking forward to the weekend. We had high hopes and high expectations and, although Donington has never been a circuit I’ve particularly enjoyed, we managed to try a lot of things out and establish a good set-up for the car during practice. So everything was looking good.”
Tom’s next race is Thruxton in Hampshire, one of the promising stars’ favourite tracks. It was at Thruxton where Tom claimed his first car racing rostrum in 2009, a breakthrough victory in 2010 and a commanding hat-trick in 2011. Unfortunately some bad luck in 2012 meant that he missed out due to his driveshaft failing whilst he was leading the race. This year he will be seeking payback on the track!
We look forward to it Tom!
