BTCC Thruxton – Ingram boosts title bid with first win of season

Tom Ingram became the ninth different race winner from ten rounds as he cruised to victory in race one at Thruxton.

The Hyundai driver gained the lead from Ash Sutton and sailed into the distance for his 34th BTCC win. Dan Cammish secured second, but the story of race one was Josh Cook taking third in his ONE Motorsport Honda.

Having crashed heavily in qualifying, resulting in a trip to A&E for Cook, and a late night for the mechanics, Cook started 14th and surged to third. A fine reward for the team, and a good haul of points for the man who’s previously been dubbed the ‘King of Thruxton.’

The start was a hectic affair, with both Charles Rainford and Tom Chilton being pitched into spins. Further into the lap Max Hall got wide on the grass, pitching his Cupra into a spin. He collected NAPA’s Sam Osborne with both ending in the wall and the safety car deployed.

On the restart on lap eight, Cammish lunged past Mikey Doble for third at the Complex. Meanwhile coming into the final chicane, Ingram was battling Sutton for the lead. Ingram broke last on the outside, with Sutton on the edge of control. He understeered into Ingram with both going wide and cutting the chicane. Ingram was through, and never lost the lead.

Further down the order Senna Proctor, returning to the sport after a three year absence, was battling with Cook, Jake Hill and Gordon Shedden. The latter ran wide and lost the back end, spinning and collecting a large amount of turf in his radiator. He ended the race in 18th.

The later stages of the race saw Ingram unchallenged. Sutton reported a loss of power as he was lacking top speed. If there’s one thing you need around the fastest circuit in the UK, is top speed. Cook seized the opportunity and passed the beleaguered Ford driver for third place.

Ingram took the win, boosting his title chances. Cammish was second with Cook third. Sutton brought his stricken Focus home in fourth with teammate Dan Rowbottom fifth.

Jake Hill was sixth with James Dorlin securing his best finish of the season for Toyota in seventh and Adam Morgan eighth. Proctor was ninth in his return with Tom Chilton coming home tenth on the road, but a ten second penalty was applied for frequent track limits infringements.

Daryl DeLeon inherited tenth with Chris Smiley and Aron Taylor-Smith securing decent points. Dan Lloyd and Aiden Moffat coming home ahead of Chilton, who dropped to 15th.

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