Team VERTU made it six successive races on the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship podium with another strong showing as the series headed for Brands Hatch for the second meeting of the year.

The EXCELR8-run squad had picked up four podiums – including a first win of the year – during the opening meeting as Donington Park two weeks earlier, and headed to the famous Kent circuit looking to strengthen its early season title challenge.

Whilst Tom Ingram and Adam Morgan successfully made it through to the Quick Six battle for pole, Tom Chilton was caught out by a red flag in his Q1 session to end up 15th on the grid with Michael Crees directly behind in 16th having missed out on moving into the second segment by just 0.029s.

Morgan would eventually end up with the third best time – just 0.005s off the front row – with Ingram in fourth despite limited boost due to his championship position.

The duo ran the soft tyre in race one, with Ingram sweeping ahead into third spot at Paddock Hill Bend when the lights went out, with the pair holding position through to the finish.

Cress also ran the soft tyre and was able to race his way forwards into the points in 13th place – matching the pace of the top five – although Chilton would slip back to 22nd spot having elected to run the less favoured hard tyre at the first opportunity.

Ingram’s podium finish in race one forced him to run the hard tyre in race two and, with much of the field on the soft rubber, he was powerless to retain his position near the front and would slip back to eleventh by the finish.

Once again on the soft tyre, Morgan lost ground with a slow start when the lights went out and dropped back to sixth before storming his way back into third after an mid-race caution period. Overhauling Charles Rainford on the restart, he secured a second place finish for his first podium for the team.

Chilton also suffered a poor start that dropped him to stone last before he romped through the pack to gain ten spots on his starting position in twelfth, with Crees adding more points to his tally in 14th after another solid on-track performance.

Morgan would be the leading driver on the reverse grid for race three, but was now on the hard tyre, which resulted in him slipping back from eighth at the start to twelfth – although that still left him as the leading driver on the less-favoured rubber.

Ingram made the most of the pace in his car to charge his way through to third by the finish, having gone wheel-to-wheel with rival Jake Hill throughout the final stages.

Chilton’s recovery through the pack continued with seventh place, whilst Crees came close to a hat-trick of points finishes as he took 16th on the hard tyre.

At the end of the weekend, Ingram sits second in the standings with Chilton and Morgan also in the top five, with Team VERTU now holding a 23 point lead in the Teams’ Championship.

Tom Chilton, #3 Team VERTU Hyundai i30 Fastback N, said: “I want to forget about qualifying and race one, and even the first few metres of race two as I got an awful start and dropped to the back!

“From there however, it was so exciting to come through to twelfth place and it was nice to then overtake more in race three to eventually take seventh. It was a shame I couldn’t make up a few more spots as we had the pace but I just got stuck in traffic so was unable to try and push for the podium.

“To still be fourth in the standings after two rounds is good and the fact I can use the turbo at a slightly lower speed – and will have more of it – will be beneficial when we get to Snetterton next time. It’s all credit to Team VERTU as they’ve given me a mega car.”

Adam Morgan, #33 Team VERTU Hyundai i30 Fastback N, said: “It’s been a pretty good weekend from the moment we rolled the car out of the truck as we’ve been on the money, and it’s great to score my first podium with EXCELR8 and Team VERTU. We’ve been quick in all three races, even on the hard tyre, and have picked up solid points to move up the standings.

“Without fluffing the start, I think could potentially have won the second race but I’m not going to come away from the weekend disappointed with a podium finish, especially with the pace we have in the car at the moment.

“Looking at race one and two and how people had performed on the hard tyre, I knew the final race would be tough – especially with the lack of boost – but I was first car home on the hard tyre so I know we did the best we could and maximised the result.”

Tom Ingram, #80 Team VERTU Hyundai i30 Fastback N, said: “It’s been a really good weekend and the car has felt beautiful; we haven’t need to touch it from the start of FP1. It’s been a dream and we’ve been able to score solid points once again which has allowed us to retain second in the points. It’s a nice place to be in at this stage, and it sets us up well for the rest of the season to try and carry this momentum on.

“It would have been nice to finish higher up in race two, but we didn’t expect so many people to run the soft there which caught us off-guard a little. As it was, I feel we did a good job there to get the result that we did, and when we bolted the soft tyre back on for race three, the pace allowed us to come back through to the podium again.

“Five podiums from six shows our consistency, and whilst I want to get that win, it won’t be far away with the pace we have.”

Michael Crees, #777 Team VERTU Hyundai i30 Fastback N, said: “I’m delighted to score two points finishes this weekend, although I’m also a bit gutted we didn’t get the third one as it was so close! The hard tyre was just really difficult to race with, and we missed out in the final one.

“I feel I battled really hard and showed people what I can do in the car, as I’m only getting better and only getting stronger. I think the performance here was light years away from Brands Hatch as the support of the fans, and having more people here to cheer me on was like the twelfth man in a football match.

“I’m feeling more settled in the team which is good, and I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made so far.”