Speedworks Motorsport's Tom Ingram gained 24 positions on his way to Dunlop #ForeverForward honours at Thruxton – ten more than his nearest competition.
Qualifying saw Matt Neal smash the BTCC’s longest-standing lap record, set by Yvan Muller in 2002, in Saturday’s qualifying on Dunlop’s specialist Thruxton Sport Maxx hard compound tyre. The Halfords Yuasa Racing racer was in a class of his own in the opening race too, taking his first win of the year and a maiden victory for the new FK8 Honda Civic Type R.
Matt Neal: “With the ambient temperature in qualifying I knew it was going to be tough, but the tyres really held on. I just avoided the kerbs.” It looks as if Matt saw Dunlop's Thruxton circuit tour with Mickey Butler on Saturday:
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialBTCC/videos/1974412935933480/
Power Maxed TAG Racing's Josh Cook took #ForeverForward honours in race one, making up six positions. He was followed by Jake Hill, who furthered his claim in this year’s #ForeverForward standings with a five-place improvement. Fans voted Tom Chilton's manoeuvre on Andrew Jordan on lap 10 as their #ForeverForward overtake of the race.
It was deja-vu in race two with the front-row unchanged. Team BMW man Colin Turkington produced a blistering start and held on to the lead. It was the PMR Vauxhall of Josh Cook making waves, storming through the pack to the tune of nine positions gained on his way to the eventual race win.
Tom Ingram pulled off the spectacular as he looked to make amends for a race one DNF. He gained a massive 20 positions after starting at the very back of the grid for race two. Additionally, AmD's Ollie Jackson quietly made progress, equalling Cook’s eight positions gained. Fans voted Cook’s decisive lap twelve overtake on Turkington as their favourite of the encounter.
As always, the race three reverse grid fuelled an action-packed BTCC finale. Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport's Adam Morgan produced a stellar lights-to-flag performance, securing his second win of the season and a one-point championship lead. WIX Racing with Eurotech's Jack Goff charged past five cars on his way to a well-earned second place.
Again, there was plenty of action throughout the pack. Dan Cammish gained 12 places, while the sister Mercedes of Tom Oliphant made up 11. However, nobody could top Ingram’s impressive 20 positions in race two – propelling him to second in the #ForeverForward table with a weekend-high score of 24 FF points.
"We were very pleased with the performance of the hard compound tyre at the weekend," said Mickey Butler, Manager, UK and One Brand Motorsport Events. "Teams were able to complete multiple race runs without any issues. The few occasions we had any issues crop up were when drivers hit the kerbs too aggressively. Overall, we're very pleased with the weekend all-round."
#ForeverForward – Thruxton
1. Tom INGRAM, 24
2. Josh COOK, 14
3. Dan CAMMISH, 13
4. Tom BOARDMAN, 12
5. Ollie JACKSON, 12
6. Rory BUTCHER, 11
7. Tom OLIPHANT, 11
8. Jack GOFF, 11
9. Bobby THOMPSON, 10
10. Sam SMELT, 8
#ForeverForward – Overall Standings
1. Jake HILL, 58
2. Tom INGRAM, 54
3. Ollie JACKSON, 53
4. Tom BOARDMAN, 49
5. Adam MORGAN, 46
6. Senna PROCTOR, 44
7. Rob AUSTIN, 42
8. Mike BUSHELL, 42
9. Matt SIMPSON, 41
10. Ash SUTTON, 39
