Tom Ingram was left to reflect on three points scoring finishes in the fourth round of the British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park

The 21-year-old, who drives for Speedworks Motorsport, looked fast in free practice on Saturday and was around the top five quickest cars before eventually qualifying ninth for race one – a position which he admitted didn’t reflect the car’s pace.

When Sunday rolled around, Ingram made up one position in the first race but in doing so he was bogged down in a midfield battle, meaning his fastest lap time was only good enough to see him start the second race from 15th on the grid.

“Pre-event testing put us in an upbeat mood; we were confident we had made a step forward from Thruxton, and practice confirmed that – to lap second and fourth-quickest was mega,” said Ingram.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t convert it in qualifying and I hold my hand up to that – Oulton is a tricky circuit to really hook up the whole lap perfectly, and I didn’t put my three best sectors together at the same time.

“Our grid position left us slightly on the back foot given how difficult overtaking is round there.”

Ingram, piloting his Toyota Avensis, was able to gain three positions from his lowly grid position in race two to take the chequered flag in 11th.

A collision with Jeff Smith in the final race saw Ingram slide down to 13th before he recovered to pinch ninth place off Smith on the last corner of the final lap – a satisfying end to a breathtaking race.

Ingram said: “Having been fired off the track twice, I think the red mist descended and it was extremely satisfying to out-drag Jeff across the finish line after what had happened earlier.

“Overall, three good points scores means we can go to Croft in a positive frame of mind and firmly focussed on making further progress. It’s one of my favourite circuits on the calendar, so bring it on.”

A haul of 20 points keeps the High Wycombe racer 12th in the drivers’ standings, where he currently sits on 67 points, leaving him 14 points adrift of a place in the top ten.