Ingram moves into BTCC points lead after strong showing at Croft

Tom Ingram assumed the British Touring Car Championship points lead after the three races at Croft Circuit, with a win in Race 1 and a second in Race 3 his best results of the day. 

NAPA Racing UK’s Ash Sutton, points leader going into the weekend in North Yorkshire battled back from a puncture in Race 1 to recover to fifth in Race 2, before he won the final race of the day.

Team Vertu driver Ingram took the championship lead at the start of the day with an assured victory. Starting from pole, he held off an early challenge from fellow front row starter Dan Cammish, but the challenge proved to be brief, with Ingram being unchallenged for the remainder of the race. 

A brief safety car period to recover the stricken Restart Racing Hyundai i30 Fastback N Performance of Chris Smiley didn't hamper him, either, with the notable straight line advantage helping him maintain his lead from the restart until the end, despite the interruption allowing Cammish to close the gap. 

Cammish held on for second in his NAPA Racing UK Ford Focus ST, 1.112s behind Ingram, with Senna Proctor third, having moved up the field from eighth on the grid, to claim his first podium of the season. 

Daniel Rowbottom was fourth, with Tom Chilton fifth ahead of West Surrey Racing BMW’s Darryl DeLeon, Toyota Gazoo Racing UK’s Aron Taylor-Smith, Charles Rainford and Daniel Lloyd, with Adam Morgan ensuring all four Team Vertu Hyundais were in the top 10 in 10th. 

Gordon Shedden, Dexter Patterson, Aiden Moffat, Sam Osborne and Mikey Doble – who started third on the grid but fell back after an early race scuffle, then fell further after spinning on the first lap  – rounded out the points scorers.

RACE 1 RESULTS

Forced to use the hard tire as a top-three finisher in Race 1, Ingram had his work cut out when it came to repeating his victory in Race 2. 

Rowbottom started fourth as the highest-placed driver on softs and duly capitalized. He was already into the podium places by the end of lap one, then took second from Cammish a lap later before breezing past Ingram on lap three. 

Chilton followed through, marching from fifth to second, but couldn't find a way past Rowbottom up front. DeLeon made a comparable charge to the front two to jump from sixth to third, with Morgan finishing fourth. 

Fifth went to Sutton, who started 20th, but with a TOCA Turbo Boost (TTB) advantage from his low Race 1 finishing position, he made light work of those in front of him. 

Rainford finished sixth, ahead of Shedden, with Ingram the highest of the hard tire runners down in ninth. 

Moffat split the Race 1 top two in ninth, with Cammish 10th, Patterson 11th, Osborne two places higher than Race 1 in 12th, Smiley 13th, and Doble and Lloyd the last of the scorers in 14th and 15.

After finishing in the top 10 in every race since his BTCC comeback at Thruxton, Proctor struggled on the hard tires and could only finish 19th.

RACE 2 RESULTS

Sutton's Race 2 charge foreshadowed what would be seen on the final race of the day. Starting fifth on the partially reversed grid, Sutton shadowed polesitter Moffat and Ingram – who made contact on lap one – in the early stages. 

A safety car period for a collision between Rainford and Cammish neutralized the race from lap two, but on the restart, as Moffat continued to hold off Ingram, Sutton pounced on both at the hairpin to sneak by. 

From there, Sutton took off and crossed the line 2.201s ahead of Ingram. Proctor recovered from his dismal Race 2 to finish on the podium once again, with Gordon Shedden dropping on place to finish fourth. 

Morgan was fifth ahead of Moffat who, after losing the lead to Sutton, dropped further after contact with Proctor. Osborne finished seventh for his second-best result of the season ahead of Chiton, Taylor-Smith and Doble, with Patterson, debutant Max Buxton, Rainford, Nick Halstead and Rowbottom taking the final points positions.

The win in Race 3 means that Sutton's Ford Focus – namely chassis MBP-2020-012 – has equalled the record for most number of wins for a single chassis in the NGTC regulation era with 22, drawing level with the second MG6 GT built (V2012-C-0510-002) that raced between 2012-19, with Sutton scoring one of those victories during his single season behind the wheel of that car in 2016.

RACE 3 RESULTS

Ingram leaves Croft eight points ahead of Sutton, with Rowbotton a further 70 points back in third. The BTCC season continues in two week's time with the series' only trip north of the border to Knockhill in Scotland.