Tom Ingram took a dominant win in the final race of the day at Knockhill after gaining the lead from early battles with pole sitter Ant Whorton-Eales and Rory Butcher.
Whorton-Eales made a great start as the lights went out to lead the first lap. But going into lap two he made contact with something which punctured his rear tyre sending him into the pits and out of contention for the win.
Ingram then pulled out a large lead which he held until two safety car periods brought the field back together but each time Ingram held onto the lead on the restart to take the win
“It’s been a long time coming hasn’t it?” Said Ingram afterwards, “I had a funny feeling after about five laps, saying to the team ‘when do you think the safety car will be then?’. It never goes that easily does it? Amazingly though, it went perfectly and I got the jump at the restarts. Ant [Whorton-Eales] made a mistake at the chicane which allowed me to get through. My word, the Speedworks guys have given me a great car this weekend. What’s really been annoying is that our struggles haven’t been our fault. If it were mistakes on my part or from the team, then it’d be okay but when it’s not it gets very frustrating. We’ve got a great team and a great car underneath us. I heard people saying it was a fluke at the start of the year and this shows it wasn’t.”
Shedden had a fight for second with his inlaw, Rory Butcher as the two fought strongly but Butcher eventually had to give in to his Brother in law, leaving Shedden in second.
Unfortunately Butcher than saw himself fall down the order as several other cars passed him leaving him in ninth by the flag. Shedden meanwhile had to hold off a charging Colin Turkington in third;
“I could see the BMWs coming! The safety car definitely helped – it saved my bacon. The car was good but it was just lacking a bit. Tom [Ingram] had mega pace and drove really well so I’ll take second place. He said afterwards. He was also full of praise for his brother in law; “Rory [Butcher] was driving well and it’s that first touring car meeting and just realising what goes on in the first few laps. He did well and he was fast, he’ll come out stronger in the next one.”
Turkington was pleased with another podium ahead of the Subarus;
“If I could keep finishing third between now and the end of the season I’d be in pretty good shape but Knockhill has been great. It’s always a circuit I enjoy coming to. I wouldn’t have expected that. It shows you don’t always have to win the races to score the most points. I go home tonight satisfied but also quite aware of the hard work that lies ahead. There’s nobody slow out there, everybody’s fast and those reverse grid races are incredibly tough. I picked my way through and just survived at the end.”
Subaru took fourth, fifth and sixth with Sutton ahead of Cole and Plato. Cole is really showing he is mastering the BTCC now holding off Plato on a day when the former champion has been strong.
Mat Jackson took seventh ahead of Matt Neal. Behind Rory Buthcer in ninth came Dave Newsham topping off a strong day for the BTC Norlin Chevrolet driver.
Colin Turkington now leads the overall championship from Ashley Sutton with Shedden dropping to third. BMW also lead the manufacturers and teams championships. In the independents, it’s Tom Ingram and Speedworks on top of drivers and teams championships. Senna Proctor leads the Jack Sears trophy for rookie drivers with Rory Butcher winning it at Knockhill on his debut weekend.
2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 21 – Knockhill
1 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport 27 laps
2 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +1.167s
3 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +1.556s
4 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +4.172s
5 James COLE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +4.463s
6 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +5.179s
7 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +5.538s
8 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +5.784s
9 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +6.333s
10 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +7.193s
11 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +7.614s
12 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +9.215s
13 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +9.316s
14 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +9.775s
15 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +10.407s
16 Jack GOFF (GBR) Eurotech Racing +10.730s
17 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +11.091s
18 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +12.152s
19 Brett SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +12.890s
20 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +13.059s
21 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +16.267s
22 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +17.095s
23 Michael EPPS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +18.503s
24 Aron TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +18.727s
25 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +24.014s
26 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +1 lap
27 Ant WHORTON-EALES (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +2 laps
28 Stewart LINES (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +2 laps
29 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +3 laps
30 Will BURNS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +8 laps
31 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +12 laps
32 Josh PRICE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +19 laps
By Marc Waller
