Tom Ingram claimed victory in the first race of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship weekend at Oulton Park with a commanding drive as the Cheshire Mouldings Race Day got underway this afternoon (Sunday).
The Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS driver made a strong start as the lights went out, holding the lead from reigning champion Ash Sutton as the field streamed through Old Hall and down towards Cascades for the first time. Whilst the leaders charged through the first corner, there was drama further down the grid as four-time champion Colin Turkington failed to get off the line – but those behind all successfully managed to avoid the stricken BMW.
At the front, Sutton’s hot pursuit of Ingram continued onto the second lap with the NAPA Racing UK Ford firmly in the Hyundai’s mirrors through Cascades. Moments later, series leader Sutton made an opportunistic move for the lead at Island which resulted into a moment of contact as he and Ingram exited the hairpin. The duo then ran side by side over Hilltop before once again touching under braking for the chicane at Hislops.
The second contact resulted in Ingram travelling across the grass and retaining the lead whilst Sutton held onto second ahead of the sister Ford Focus ST of Dan Cammish. Sutton appeared to briefly consider another attempt on the lead at Island just a lap later, but the door remained shut and the fight for first settled a bit more thereafter.
Behind that, Jake Hill was a man on the move having risen from sixth to fifth in the opening laps before passing Tom Chilton for fourth on the third tour of the Cheshire circuit. Hill’s Laser Tools branded BMW 330e M Sport then set about hunting down Cammish in third, but a lock up under braking on lap nine dropped him back down to his starting position.
Daniel Rowbottom and Adam Morgan were the beneficiaries from Hill’s brief off-track moment, with both having passed Chilton after the latter’s promising showing on Saturday. The battle for the podium positions calmed slightly as the race wore on with Ingram driving a relatively trouble free second half of the race to the chequered flag with Sutton holding second ahead of Cammish.
Rowbottom withstood late pressure from Morgan, who repeatedly sized up a move at the wheel of his Team BMW machine during the closing moments. But the Ford was able to keep Morgan behind as the duo crossed the line fourth and fifth and fifth on the road. Rowbottom was shown a black and orange flag late on for loose bodywork however and was subsequently dropped 30 seconds post-race to 15th.
Hill ultimately took fifth, just ahead of Chilton who ended up in a relatively lonely sixth position over 16 seconds behind the victor. And there was another sizeable gap behind Chilton’s Hyundai to the next car in line, the Vauxhall Astra of Aron Taylor-Smith. Josh Cook and Aiden Moffat completed the top-10 on the road in the two LKQ Euro Car Parts branded Toyota Corollas, whilst Rob Huff's TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK machine took 10th following Rowbottom's demotion.
Turkington was classified following his failure to get off the line, albeit in 20th and a lap down after joining the race from the pit lane. The Northern Irish multiple title winner now has his work cut out to salvage a big points haul from the weekend.
Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, Oulton Park, Race 1
- Tom Ingram, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS, Hyundai i30N
- Ash Sutton, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, +1.913s
- Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, +4.557s
- Adam Morgan, Team BMW, BMW 330e M Sport, +9.858s
- Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, BMW 330e M Sport, +10.230s
- Tom Chilton, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS, Hyundai i30N, +14.700s
- Aron Taylor-Smith, Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing, Vauxhall Astra, +16.238s
- Josh Cook, LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, +26.078s
- Aiden Moffat, LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, +26.646s
- Rob Huff, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, +30.817s
Click here for full timings from this weekend.