Tom Ingram Triumphs at Thruxton
Tom Ingram had a great time at the Thruxton track this weekend, accomplishing what he called the ‘best win’ of his career so far in the 2013 Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup.
The Hampshire circuit is one of Tom’s favourite tracks, as he notes, “I love the challenge that Thruxton poses with its ultra-high-speed nature.”
The young racer found qualifying ‘tricky’ because of the changing conditions, which challenged the team’s ability to judge when was the best time to change from wet-weather rubber to slicks. The following races were full of excitement, with Tom having to use all his experience and courage to fight his way to the front.
“I found myself boxed in on the inside line heading into the Complex on the opening lap of race one,” Tom explained. “That left me with nowhere to go and dropped me to fifth. Eventually there were just a handful of laps remaining, which didn’t give me much time to try to fight my way back through! I had to pull off some pretty bold moves; I passed one driver down the inside at Church on lap eight and another around the outside at the same place the following lap for third.”
“I thought overtaking around the outside of the Craner Curves at Donington had been scary – but I soon appreciated that’s nothing compared to going flat-out around the outside of Church at Thruxton at 130mph!”
The Sunday race, televised live on ITV4, was even more dramatic. “It was never going to be easy starting from fifth,” Tom confessed. “But after conceding points to Carl in both of Saturday’s races, we knew we needed to beat him on Sunday! I passed Jamie Orton for second on lap nine, which left me with seven laps to close down a four-second deficit to Carl Breeze.”
After catching up with Carl Breeze and making one failed attempt to overtake him, Tom managed to fight his way past and into the lead. “On the penultimate lap, I got a good run up the hill out of Allard, which gave me the opportunity to pull alongside Carl on the outside line heading into Campbell. It was literally door-handle-to-door-handle and real heart-in-mouth stuff. Although I then had the inside line for Cobb, the touch sent me a little bit wide and Carl pulled back alongside on the drag down to Noble, but I made sure I held him off and was able to ease away.”
“It was probably the best win I’ve ever had, in all honesty. I really had to fight hard for it. In the past, we’ve never had the funds to risk the car or try moves like that due to fear of damage, so I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my sponsors SKYCIG, KX and Hansford Sensors for giving me that chance now and allowing me to really race for victory.”
This fantastic weekend has seen Tom Ingram double his lead in the championship, increasing his advantage from 15 points to 32. The Ginetta GT Supercup action resumes in early June at Oulton Park on the 9th and 10th. Make sure you’re following Tom and Hansford Sensors, for updates!
