Ingram predicting huge challenge in fight for second BTCC title

British Touring Car Championship star Tom Ingram reckons the pace of the series’ top two teams has made the task of winning a second title even harder.
 
Ingram claimed his sole BTCC title in 2022, his second season since joining the Excelr8 Motorsport team to spearhead its line-up of Hyundai i30 N machinery. But since then he has finished runner-up to Ash Sutton in 2023 and to Jake Hill in 2024.
 
The 31-year-old Coventry-domiciled High Wycombe man again sits runner-up following the opening round of this season at Donington Park; after claiming second in all three races, he is seven points adrift of Alliance Racing Ford Focus ST driver Sutton.
 
With pace deserting Hill and the West Surrey Racing BMW team at Donington, the weekend was dominated by Alliance and Excelr8.
 
Speedworks Toyota newcomer Ronan Pearson was the only driver not from those two teams to make it into the Quick Six qualifying shootout and, across Sunday’s three races, 14 of the 18 top-six finishes were taken by Alliance Fords or Excelr8 Hyundais – including the entire top half-dozen in the finale.
 
Ingram believes this has upped the ante regarding demands for each race.
 
“We’ve had great results in the end – a good way to start the season,” he said after the final race at Donington. “Good hard racing. It’s been enjoyable.

Tom Ingram, Team Vertu Hyundai i30

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

“We need to keep this going, that goes without saying. The MO for the season is unfortunately this.
 
“This has got to be the standard, which is horrible to think, because I think gone are those seasons of finishing seventh every race. They don’t exist anymore.
 
“I think you’ve got to finish third and fourth every race, which is not very nice because it means the pressure’s well and truly on. Let’s see how it pans out.”
 
Ingram admitted that at the next round at Brands Hatch, the reductions in usage of TOCA Turbo Boost for the championship top seven, applied in qualifying for the first time this season, will make that job even harder.
 
“It’s certainly gone right to plan as we wanted it to so far,” he added. “But now we’re going to get into the realms of those lower TTBs…”
 
And Ingram claims that it’s too early to predict that the entire season will be Hyundai versus Ford, particularly with WSR working hard to improve its BMWs after Donington, which was the first BTCC round since the removal of hybrid, meaning the cars are running 55kg lighter.
 
“No, absolutely not,” he declared. “We’ve started the season really well, but not [a contest between just those two teams] yet.”