Tom Ingram wins the second BTCC race of the day at Donington

The field gets away at the start (Photo by Marc Waller)Tom Ingram has won the second BTCC race of the day at Donington, with Rob Collard second and Ash Sutton a stunning third for Subaru.

The victory means that Ingram has been in the top five for every session or race so far this weekend.

Ingram took the lead when the Team BMW cars started battling each other.

“I’m lost for words!” said Ingram. “I knew we would stand a fighting chance but I honestly didn’t expect to win like that, from where we were on the grid and with a little bit of weight on-board. We expected it to be tough to match the pace of the BMWs, but boy, aren’t Speedworks doing a great job at the moment!”

Aiden Moffat had started well from pole with Collard and Turkington going either side of Rob Austin’s Avensis.

Austin fell down to tenth before falling off the circuit altogether and out of the race. It was as the BMW’s then fought for second that Ingram made his move, with Ingram following Collard past Austin with Turkington finding himself behind both Ingram and Collard.

Moffat was on the option tyres and loaded with success ballast for winning and he soon found his pace fading. With first Ingram and then Collard passing him. Ingram managed to pass much quicker than Collard meaning he could pull out a decent lead before the BMW could also get through.

Moffat faded after that eventually taking fourteenth.

Ash Sutton meanwhile had mounted a stunning charge up the field from thirteenth to third by the end. It was almost second past Collard on the final lap but the BMW driver was in determined mood and Sutton remained third.

Collard was pleased with his second place;

“That was a tough race,” commented Collard. “It all happened in the first few laps really – I almost got Aiden for the lead at Coppice but I was slightly caught out and that allowed Tom to get underneath me. I had to fight hard to get back up to second. Ash was catching me very quickly towards the end. That proves how quick he is as a young driver – definitely one to watch. I just had to try to keep it all under control; he gave me a cheeky tap at Coppice, but I knew if I could hold it there were yellow flags at the chicane, so I just managed to cling on.”

Sutton’s result was impressive after he had started the previous race from last after his qualifying overboost infringement.

“Qualifying obviously didn’t go to plan this weekend, and after being relegated to the back of the grid, our long-term goal was to aim for the podium in race three – and we obviously achieved it early! The car felt phenomenal – really mega – in both of the first two races. I think we’ve showed what the Subaru Levorg is capable of, and what I’m capable of in a rear-wheel drive car. It’s nice to finally get some momentum behind us.”

Moffat comes under pressure as his tyres fade (Photo by Marc Waller) Ingram celebrates the win (Photo by Marc Waller) Podium (Photo by Marc Waller)

 

 

 

Josh Cook was another driver who impressed starting tenth, he fought through to seventh by the end but had actually ran as high as fourth during the race.

Shedden and Neal put their Honda’s sixth and seventh but it was Dave Newsham in eighth who was drawn as the reverse grid pole for race three.

Goff’s Eurotech Honda and Chilton’s Vauxhall completed the top ten.

2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 5 – Donington Park
1 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport 16 laps
2 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +3.865s
3 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +4.085s
4 Josh COOK (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +10.112s
5 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +14.134s
6 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +15.340s
7 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +20.817s
8 Dave NEWSHAM (IRL) BTC Norlin Racing +21.912s
9 Jack GOFF (GBR) Eurotech Racing +24.793s
10 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +27.670s
11 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +28.118s
12 Ant WHORTON-EALES (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +28.196s
13 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +28.241s
14 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +35.766s
15 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +36.144s
16 Luke DAVENPORT (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +36.500s
17 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +36.829s
18 Aron TAYLOR-SMITH (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +37.210s
19 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +37.474s
20 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +37.775s
21 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +38.046s
22 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +39.632s
23 Michael EPPS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +40.332s
24 James COLE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +41.484s
25 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +41.684s
26 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +1m00.116s
27 Will BURNS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +1m14.522s
28 Josh PRICE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +2 laps
29 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +2 laps
30 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +3 laps
31 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +13 laps
32 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat with Duo +16 laps  By Marc Waller 

 

 

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