Tom Ingram produced a peerless performance to tally his seventh career victory in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship curtain-raiser at Brands Hatch last weekend as the Speedworks Motorsport star outpaced all of his rivals to soar to the summit of the Drivers’ standings.

Having clinched both the Drivers’ and Teams’ Independent crowns last year – and finished an outstanding third in the overall Drivers’ table – Ingram and Speedworks have even greater glories in their sights in 2018, and the talented young Wycombe ace laid down an early marker by topping the first timed practice session of the year for the fourth straight season.

On a greasy circuit following earlier rain, Ingram wasted little time in moving forward in race one, gaining three spots on the opening lap alone. 

Behind the wheel of Speedworks’ #80 Toyota Avensis, the 24-year-old subsequently pulled off a brace of superb overtakes to advance to fourth, after which he zeroed in on the three leaders. 

Posting the fastest second sector of anybody, he ultimately ran out of time but the result nonetheless represented an excellent recovery from his qualifying disappointment.

Although the track surface was beginning to dry by the start of race two, it remained extremely damp in places and all of the front-runners played safe by bolting on wet Dunlop tyres. 

With a dry line rapidly emerging and conditions increasingly favouring the slick-shod competitors, the three-time Ginetta Champion and erstwhile British Karting Champion held sway at the front of the field until lap 21, when he found himself defenceless as those drivers on dry-weather rubber scythed their way through at a rate of knots. He ultimately took the chequered flag 11th – second-highest amongst the wet tyre contingent.

With his Avensis ballast-free for the day’s finale, Ingram went immediately on the attack, progressing to seventh on lap one and reading developing situations to perfection to fight through to fourth on lap two. Following a short safety car intervention, a textbook re-start saw him wrong-foot Aiden Moffat for third into Paddock Hill Bend, before snatching second at the end of lap seven and setting off after the leader with headlights ablaze.

Ingram said: “There was a lot of pressure on us arriving at Brands, with people expecting us to qualify on the front row and win the first race after doing so for the last two seasons, but we had a bit of an uphill battle this time. 

“I hung on for as long as possible in race two, but it was clear it was slipping away from us and there was literally nothing I could do about that.

“After that, I honestly didn’t expect to win race three from so far down the grid – I’m proper chuffed. 

“The Avensis was an absolute joy to drive and so stable on the brakes, which meant I could pick people off pretty much where I wanted. 

“We really seem to have found its sweet spot now and that is all credit to this team. It’s fair to say we nailed Brands Hatch so bring on Donington.”