Ingram proves a consistent threat at Whilton

Young karting ace Tom Ingram proved to be the very model of controlled aggression, pace and consistency in his latest outing in the BRDC Stars of Tomorrow Championship –and in so doing got his title bid back on-track with a vengeance.

The promising High Wycombe teenager travelled to Whilton Mill for the fourth round in the same series in a positive frame of mind, having triumphed there only a week beforehand to claim the prestigious Brazilian Cup.

He also went there knowing he needed a strong result, after suffering appalling fortunes in the opening three meetings of the campaign, when he had found himself the innocent victim of other drivers’ impetuosity on a number of occasions, leaving the British #8 down in 13th position in the Junior Max standings.

“I really like Whilton,” he enthused. “It’s undulating, and a proper drivers’ track. I knew from the weekend before that we were going to be quick. Obviously I wanted to get a good result, but I didn’t feel there was any more pressure on me than usual.

“The kart felt a lot better than it had done in the previous round at Rowrah. We had really old tyres on for nearly the whole of practice and were just one or two tenths off the pace, so we knew that as soon as we bolted new ones on we’d be there or thereabouts.”

Indeed he was, and though he had to switch to his back-up motor after his regular race engine developed problems, the reigning Wycombe and Marlow Sports Personality of the Year proved to be up at the sharp end weekend-long.

Despite having to contend with equipment that is far from the best, and with just his small, family-run team for support – in a formula that is becoming increasingly dominated, even at such a fledgling level, by professional and dealer-backed outfits – Tom is living proof that sometimes, raw talent can win out.

Sixth spot on the grid for the opening heat was converted into third position at the chequered flag, just 1.5 seconds off the race-winner and with fastest lap to his name for good measure.

“I knew I wasn’t pushing 110 per cent for the last four or five laps,” he explained, “because there was quite a gap to the two leaders and I wasn’t catching them, so I thought I might as well save the tyres a bit.

“I knew there was always going to be a crash in heat two, so I held a couple of kart lengths back at the start. As expected, quite a few drivers went off so I picked a few places up there, then just picked the others off throughout the race.

“You don’t always need to have the power to overtake at Whilton; you can get them on the brakes instead. At the end I went across the line level with the guy in seventh place. Just one more corner…”

Indeed, it was a breathtaking performance, with the 14-year-old opportunistically making up a staggering ten places on the opening lap alone from 24th on the starting grid. From thereon in he put all of his intelligence, skill and overtaking prowess to good effect, as the master of inventing new and unexpected passing places – fooling his rivals and catching them off their guard – set the race’s third-quickest lap time to ultimately cross the line in eighth place, less than four tenths of a second behind the top five. Where others dare not even think about making a move, Tom Ingram dares – and invariably succeeds.

Beginning his third heat from eighth, he would need to draw on all of that expertise once more after being shunted from behind on the first lap and pushed up over another kart, dropping him down to 15th place. From there he would battle his way impressively back up through the order into sixth spot at the flag, less than three tenths shy of fifth and again with the race’s fastest lap to his credit.

“It was fun coming through the pack,” Tom acknowledged, “and I still finished better than I had started despite having dropped down a long way. When you’ve been involved in a crash at the start the red mist just comes down…”

That trio of results left the Monodraught-backed star a strong eighth on the grid for the all-important final out of some 47 competitors, though had he not lost as much ground as he did in the third heat, it could have been a couple of rows higher still or possibly even more. Given how evenly-matched the final would prove to be, that could have put an altogether different complexion on a weekend in which the 2006 Mini Max Champion was one of only four drivers to finish inside the top eight every time out.

“I knew I was starting on the side of the grid where I wanted to be,” he explained. “If you can hang on around the outside of the first corner, you get the inside line for the second corner and the inside line going up the hill. I knew I had the pace to keep up with the front-runners, and that as long as I made it around the first lap ok the race would be on.

“The trouble was that after that everyone was constantly about a kart length and a half behind the driver in front. Everyone was so close on times, so although you could get the tow, because everyone was effectively braking and turning-in in the same place, it was nigh-on impossible to try and overtake.

“I got close to Philip Haworth in front of me at one point, but I then made the one mistake I made all race and dropped back. There was no one behind me at the time so it was worth a go; I just tried to brake at the same time as he did, but ended up sliding straight past the apex.”

Nevertheless, sixth position, just three hundredths of a second adrift of Haworth and barely two seconds shy of the top spot – with a faster lap time than three of the drivers who finished ahead of him – was a highly praiseworthy performance. Indeed, Tom’s laudable consistency has seen him gain a couple of spots in the championship chase and close the gap on those in front – now sitting just two points outside the top ten and fewer than 40 points behind Haworth in fourth – as he prepares to do battle around two of his favourite circuits next up on the calendar.

“At first I wasn’t happy because I always want to win,” he mused afterwards, “but I suppose thinking about it I can be quite pleased with the result.

“I’ve got a couple of good rounds coming up now. I enjoy Llandow and went well there last year, qualifying fourth, until we went the wrong way on tyre choice when it rained before the final. I know I can be there or thereabouts on pace, and after that there’s Genk…”

The Belgian track was the scene in 2007 of Tom’s breakthrough Junior Max podium in Stars, and a similar showing twelve months on, he well knows, could just propel him right back into the hunt for honours. Count Tom Ingram out at your peril…

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