Ingram ready to ‘go for it’ at Rowrah

After achieving a podium finish in his warm-up outing for the third round on the 2008 BRDC Stars of Tomorrow schedule at Rowrah, Tom Ingram is now after a similar result in the main event – and on current form, who would bet against him?

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The young High Wycombe ace travelled to his ‘local’ circuit of Buckmore Park in Kent for a practice run ahead of his next Stars meeting. Though he had not raced in almost a month you would have been hard-pressed to tell, as he mastered the wet conditions on the Saturday to out-pace all 21 of his Junior Max rivals, in a field containing a number of Super 1 front-runners – James Doherty, Matt Shead, Billy Albone and Robert Browning amongst them – and one which Tom deemed to be ‘quite stiff competition’.

“We got there on the Saturday morning,” the 14-year-old recounted, “and some of the drivers had been practising on the Friday, but that wasn’t a major disadvantage as I know the track very well.

“The kart felt excellent. In the last session I was following James Doherty around to see what lines he was taking – I fell behind in traffic, but within just two laps had caught him back up again. That left me feeling really confident, and praying for it to rain on the Sunday, because I knew I had the pace to win in the wet. Unfortunately it was dry on race day, but being my home track I know I’m quick there in all conditions.”

A lack of bottom-end power from his engine in qualifying – particularly on the exit of the track’s two hairpins – left Tom starting his heat from fifth spot on the grid, but the inside line would work in his favour as he battled his way up to third place in the race, only to subsequently be demoted by Josh Webster.

“Though I could catch him on the brakes into the corners, I just didn’t have that extra punch to get past,” the reigning Wycombe and Marlow Sports Personality of the Year explained. “Each time I made a move he could come straight back at me by getting the power down on the exit.

“I kept pushing him hard, but couldn’t get by no matter what I tried. We knew we could improve the kart quite a lot, though, so I was still confident.”

Being baulked into the first corner in the pre-final – forcing Tom to get on the brakes – saw him lining up on the second row of the grid for the all-important final. Despite budget restricting him to an ’07-spec chassis still, with the ’08 version thought to be worth as much as four tenths of a second a lap around Buckmore, the Monodraught-backed star made up for his lack of power with supreme racecraft to finish on the third step of the rostrum – and ensure he will arrive at Rowrah in positive frame of mind.

“I got a blinding start,” he stated, “and coming out of the second hairpin I was already up to second place, after going up the inside of Browning into the first hairpin and Ollie Morris-Jones into the next one. I knew I was quicker than Ollie, and that if I kept my head together I could pull away from him – which I did.

“I later checked over my shoulder and saw Joseph Reilly a little way behind having come from well down the grid, and he was clearly on a mission after a disastrous pre-final. He closed the gap that little bit too much and eventually managed to get past me.

“We only really went to Buckmore to learn some things ahead of the Super 1 round there in early June. I would have preferred to have finished higher up, but it’s always good to come away with a trophy.”

Another trophy to add to his burgeoning collection it indeed was, and as he heads up to Cumbria, Tom is clearly keen to avenge the acute disappointment of the opening Stars’ meeting of the campaign at PF International – when the Xtreme Racing star displayed lightning pace to qualify fifth out of a bumper field of 51 drivers, only to be unceremoniously turfed off the track in the final at the very first corner.

“I’m really looking forward to Rowrah,” he enthused. “I love the circuit – it’s an absolute quality track – and two years ago I was leading there in Mini Max before I got fired off. I know I’m quick enough there, and to be fair after PF any kind of result will be a bonus!

“I don’t feel under any more pressure because of what happened there – I’m quite far down in the championship table, but I know I can make those places up again because I’m faster than a lot of the drivers ahead of me. You don’t want to go into an event thinking you can’t win it, because if you do that then you won’t win.

“I just need to keep clocking up the points at the moment. I’m in this for points, because points mean prizes. I’m aiming for a top five – I would like to hope I could win, but it’s definitely not going to be easy. Saying that, if I’m lying second on the last lap just behind the leader I will certainly go for it…”

Photo: Gary Kimber

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