In recognition of his outstanding season in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) this year, 24-year-old High Wycombe ace Tom Ingram has been voted the series' best driver of 2017 by the BTCC team bosses.

Ingram was third overall out of 37 drivers, Independents’ Champion, best-placed Independent driver overall, best-placed front wheel-drive competitor overall, best average qualifying record, most laps led, four race wins and nine podium finishes this season.

In being voted best driver, it places him ahead of no fewer than six outright champions in the current BTCC field.

The poll was held by leading British motorsport publication Motorsport News.

Ingram said: “Wow. What an honour. It’s been an incredible season for us, and to be voted the best driver in the BTCC by the team managers is a massive accolade and acknowledgement of the superb job everybody at Speedworks Motorsport has done this year.

“I’ve got a fantastic team around me at Speedworks, but it’s always nice to be recognised by your paddock rivals. It gives us even more motivation to push harder still over the winter and come back in 2018 with our eyes firmly focussed on the biggest prize of all – the outright BTCC Drivers’ trophy.”

Motorsport News editor Matt James said: “The team managers are the guys who are on the pit wall for every practice session, qualifying session and race, and that means they delve deeply into the performance of all of the drivers. Who better to give us an assessment of which drivers were the standout talents of the 2017 British Touring Car Championship season?

“Tom really stepped up a level this year and showed that he is one of the leading players in the series, and his development and increasing pace has been noted by the rival team managers. Well done to Tom.”