Ingram leads Plato at Silverstone
Works Corolla driver takes a pair of wins in mixed conditions, while Colin Turkington maintains his title leading heading into the season finale
Toyota Corolla driver Tom Ingram took a pair of Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship victories in the penultimate race weekend at Silverstone, while BMW ace Colin Turkington’s charge through the field to second place in race two helped him extend his points lead.
Jack Goff also left the Northamptonshire circuit a winner, securing Team Hard’s first BTCC victory in the reverse grid final race in his Volkswagen CC.
Double BTCC champion Jason Plato had claimed pole position in his Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra, and led the first race early on in difficult conditions. But Team Toyota GB driver Ingram soon closed in, and claimed the lead at Luffield with a paint-trading move on lap four
He pulled away to take a clear win from Plato and BTC Racing Honda Civic Type R pair Chris Smiley and Josh Cook.
Andrew Jordan finished tenth in his WSR-run BMW 3 Series, while his team-mare and title rival Turkington could only manage 14th. Works Civic Type-R driver Dan Cammish, also in with a shot at the title, was 11th.
Ingram won again in race two, despite dropping back to second behind Tom Oliphant (BMW 330i M Sport) after further contact with Plato at the start.
A safety car bunched the field, and it began to rain shortly before racing resumed. Oliphant was the first man to reach the wet track at Copse on the restart, sliding wide and falling down the order, and gifting Ingram a lead he held until the race was stopped early as the rain worsened.
Turkingon thrived in the rain, charging from 14th on the grid to second to build his points lead. Cammish was third ahead of Plato and Cook.
The final race was also affected by the rain, with the field starting on dry Dunlop tyres only to find conditions worsening. Cook and Cammish led the way early on, but a mid-race safety car provided a golden opportunity for some runners to gamble on wet tyres.
Goff and Aiden Moffatt (Infiniti Q50) both gambled early, and stormed through the pack. Their battle for victory was decided when Moffatt spun, although he still finished second.
Matt Neal (Civic Type R) took third, ahead of Oliphant.
Turkington was seventh, while Cammish could only muster 12th. That means Turkington leads Cammish by 16 points heading to the Brands Hatch season finale on 13 October, with Jordan a further point back.
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Source: Autocar
