BTCC Silverstone – Ingram takes step towards title with win

Tom Ingram took another step towards the title with victory in round 26 of the BTCC at Silverstone.

The championship leader and his title rival Ash Sutton showed why they’re the class of the field, finishing first and second by some distance.

At the start, Jake Hill passed race one winner Dan Lloyd into Becketts, while further down the order Ingram made an excellent start and was third by the end of the lap.

Brooklands was seeing plenty of action as Ingram made it second place by the end of lap two, taking Lloyd and chasing down Hill in the lead. The Hyundai man pulled away from the chasing pack and was on the tail of Hill’s BMW by lap four.

Ingram was through and away as he passed Hill down the Wellington straight and was off into the sunset with a lead he never surrendered.

Title rival Sutton, not to be forgotten, followed Ingram through the field and was up to third by lap eight with Hill between them.

The Safety Car was introduced for the second time today on lap nine when Tom Chilton was in the gravel trap. He tried a move on Charles Rainford but caught the front left, causing an instant puncture and he understeered off into the gravel and out of the race.

On the restart on lap 13, there was more drama when Hyundai’s Adam Morgan’s bonnet flew up after slight contact into Becketts.

Back at the front, Sutton could see Ingram pulling away, and in the slower medium tyre, his aim was to minimise the damage. He managed to pass Hill for second into Brooklands on lap 16.

While the top two pulled away, Hill was falling into the clutches of Dan Rowbottom, who was hunting the BMW man for third. The reigning champion was safe and secured third when on the penultimate lap Rowbottom’s engine gave up, and the Ford driver pulled into the pits to retire.

Ingram took the lead, and another small stride towards his second title, but with Sutton following behind, the fight is still very much on.

Hill, who is almost resigned to handing over his crown, was third. Aron Taylor-Smith secured his best finish of the season in fourth, with Rainford and Dan Lloyd close behind. Gordon Shedden and Aiden Moffat followed with Josh Cook and Daryl DeLeon rounding off the top ten.

Mikey Doble and Sam Osborne were next with Max Buxton, Nick Halstead and Chris Smiley taking 15th despite a penalty for track limits.

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