Bucks’ Tom Ingram has committed his future to Speedworks Motorsport for the 2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championships (BTCC).

Ingram enjoyed a stellar campaign in 2015, a year in which he took points at 23 of his 30 races and recorded 18 top 10 finishes.

The 22-year-old described the independent Speedworks garage as ‘absolutely the right place’ for him to be while he develops his craft.

“The second half of last year was hugely positive for us, and it was encouraging to see all our development paying off,” he explained.

“I would like to think I’ve got a long career ahead of me in the BTCC, and these are very much my formative years.

“I need experienced people like Christian Dick (team principal) and our chief engineer Geoff Kingston around me to learn from.

“We’re are such a tight knit unit, and although I did have discussions with other teams, having come so far this was no time to walk away.”

Ingram’s new deal will see him enter his third year with Speedworks, the team he completed his rookie campaign with in 2014.

He has shown great potential on multiple occasions during that time, not least when coming within a whisker of winning the Brands Hatch GP Finale.

Bucks Free Press:

Ingram has developed into an impressive racer while at Speedworks

His efforts have drawn praise from some of the sports finest, including Jason Plato, who described the youngster as world class after the two went wheel to wheel at Rockingham last season.

Team principal, Dick, has therefore heralded Ingram’s continued involvement with Speedworks as a big moment for the team.

“The kid is a champion in waiting in my eyes. He has grown tremendously as a driver since joining the BTCC two years ago,” he said.

“Keeping him on board this year was therefore extremely high on our to-do list, and although we received interest from a number of other drivers, Tom was always our number one choice.

“He is ready to take the next step, and we are ready to take the next step, so from our point of view, the start of next season can’t come soon enough.”

Ingram, who is a three-time Ginetta champion and former British Karting champion, is now eager to build on his first three years in the BTCC.

However, he also wants keep his ambitions at a realistic level heading into a season that he expects to be more competitive than ever.

“We’ve got to remain realistic, of course, because the BTCC is never easy and with more manufacturers coming in, the competition looks stiffer than ever,” He said.

“We want to be knocking on the door of the independents’ title and we have to be targeting our first win at the very least.”