Tom Ingram has picked up a trio of awards following the conclusion of the 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship campaign, including a fan-voted accolade in recognition of his breathtaking charge through the pack from 19th to second at Donington Park towards the end of the summer.
After racing to a rostrum double at Croft in North Yorkshire, Ingram headed into the season’s final four outings holding a commanding 21-point margin over his closest pursuer at the summit of the standings, in his quest to clinch the most coveted crown in British motorsport for a second time in three years.
Contact with Aiden Moffat at Knockhill eroded that advantage, and things went from bad to worse at Donington a fortnight later, when the talented Bucks-born ace found himself sideswiped in the weekend’s curtain-raising contest. A stellar recovery from 12th to fifth looked to have saved the day – but little did Ingram imagine he would have to do it all over again – and then some – later that same afternoon.
In trademark style, the 2022 champion went on the offensive in race two to climb to second by the end of lap five, but a stray stone subsequently punctured the radiator of his Hyundai i30N, forcing him into retirement. All of a sudden and through no fault of his own, that 21-point lead was now a 16-point deficit. Starting on the very back row for race three, Ingram knew it was do-or-die.
The #80 scythed through the order in uncompromising fashion. By mid-distance, he was extraordinarily up to fourth, and in front of the live ITV4 television cameras and an enthusiastic trackside crowd, he went on to snatch second from Árón Taylor-Smith on the penultimate tour to cement an emotional 90th career podium in the UK’s premier motor racing series.
Fastest lap added an extra point to his tally, as Ingram outscored all of his immediate championship competitors to haul himself grittily back into the hunt. The 31-year-old is no stranger to stirring BTCC performances – twice in 2018, he fought from 27th to third on the way to his second Independents’ crown, and more than one of his 33 outright victories in the championship have come from outside the top ten on the grid – but due to its significance with regard to the bigger picture, this one, he admitted, was special.
Fellow former title-winner Tim Harvey described it as ‘a champion’s drive that will go down in the annals of history as one of the great touring car races’, and the series’ legion of loyal supporters, it seems, wholeheartedly agree, voting it the winner of the Fans’ Choice Award out of a ten-strong shortlist.
“It’s always rewarding to win something that was chosen by the fans – it’s nice to get that acknowledgement and respect for what you’ve achieved,” Ingram reflected. “Even now, I still look back and re-live that race – especially the story that went with it.
“Just as we looked to be on-course to recover some of the points we had lost in race one, we got the stone through the radiator, which was such a freak occurrence – and failing to score meant things looked pretty bleak in terms of the championship. In the space of two weekends, we had gone from having a healthy little points gap to suddenly playing catch-up, primarily due to circumstantial incidents outside of our control. It felt like it was slipping through our fingers.
“It also wasn’t like having to replace a punctured tyre or repair a bit of damage – we knew the only option was to change the engine, and to do that in-between races is a herculean task. It was literally all hands on deck – it had to be – and it was amazing to see some of the guys working on the other cars in the team coming across to jump onto mine.
“It was all very calm and methodical – there was no panic, no chaos, no shouting. I don’t think anybody doubted that we would get it done, and it was honestly textbook – taking the engine out and installing a new one in just an hour was an outstanding effort. I couldn’t have asked for more.
“One saving grace was that we had a full chunk of hybrid, which immediately changes your mindset because you know you have an advantage over those that don’t. From 19th on the grid, I thought a top six finish would be a good result – but within barely two laps, we were into the top ten, which obliged us to re-evaluate our objective.
“To ultimately finish second was phenomenal. Could it have been a win with another lap or two? 100 per cent, yes. That was the only disappointment, because we came so close. It was an incredible story as it was, but to have won would have just topped it off. Still, we outscored all of our main rivals, which was the job we needed to do.
“I would rate it as the best drive of my career, simply due to how important it was. It was a genuine case of the chips being down, and we had to somehow salvage the situation. Every single lap was driven on pure adrenaline. Had we had another bad result, realistically I think our title shot would have been over. That’s how critical it was.”
Ingram was presented with the accolade during the annual TOCA Awards ceremony at Silverstone, where he similarly collected his championship runner-up trophy and the social media prize for his promotional efforts on his channels, where he works hard to continue building his rapidly-growing ‘Tingram’ brand, recognising that ‘there’s big value in having a strong and engaging social media presence’.
Now, however, his focus is fully on reclaiming the biggest title of all in 2025, in preparation for which, the EXCELR8 Motorsport ace recently spent several days testing at Anglesey in North Wales, which he hopes will give him a crucial head-start when the new campaign gets underway on 26-27 April.
“We got some useful running in and made some good progress,” Ingram mused. “I didn’t think there was much more to come from the Hyundai, but it seems we’ve already found another few tenths. From having probably the fastest car this year, we’ve already made it even faster just through set-up tweaks, before we even look at any proper development – and there’s still a long winter to go before next season begins. So that’s hugely encouraging...”
