Ingram sounds warning for coming season

Tom Ingram may have had no time for testing ahead of his latest meeting at his ‘home’ circuit of Buckmore Park, but that did not stop him from stamping his authority on proceedings and leaving his rivals trailing as the national racing season roars into view.

The young High Wycombe ace – a regular front-runner in BRDC Stars of Tomorrow – spent the practice day testing at PF International, scene of the opening Stars’ round in just over seven weeks’ time. He has competed at the Lincolnshire track twice before, but never in a Junior Max, and besides, on both previous occasions he has found himself punted out of contention. He is hoping to make it third time lucky in April…

“We managed to learn a few more things about the kart and engine there, as well as the track,” Tom affirmed afterwards. “People who do club meetings at PF are obviously going to be quick there in the national championships too, so we’ve just got to get as much testing under our belts as we can.”

The following day he travelled all the way back down the country again to Buckmore in Kent – where despite having spent the campaign racing on a minimal budget up against far better-funded competitors, he had clinched Stars’ Lewis Hamilton-sponsored Mini Max laurels in 2006.

“We were hoping we could just get it dialled-in straight away and be on the pace,” the 14-year-old admitted. “After three laps’ practice we qualified third. In the first heat I couldn’t really keep up with the two leaders. The chassis was really good and we were quick enough through the corners, but we were lacking in engine power going up the hill.

“We were losing out in top-end power, which is the biggest margin for gain around Buckmore. I could pull the gap back through the tight, twisty stuff, but in a straight line they were just leaving me.”

Though his prowess in the ‘tight, twisty stuff’ may have been a further indication of Tom’s prodigious talent, the fact that the main straight at Buckmore is a long one failed to do him any favours. After taking advantage of rival Matt Shead’s late-race error in the pre-final, the reigning Wycombe and Marlow Sports Personality of the Year lined up second on the grid for the all-important final – not always a good omen.

“The outside line at Buckmore is not where you want to be,” Tom explained, “because you’re just going to get muscled out at the start. I had to make the best of the situation, and managed to get across, hold my line and hold onto second, which I kept for the first two or three laps.

“Then Craig Crowther got past me and just eked out a tiny gap. Again, I was catching him on the brakes into the corners, but I just couldn’t keep up in a straight line.”

Be that as it may, the Monodraught-backed star nevertheless proved that where there’s a will there is most definitely a way, as he picked off both drivers ahead of him within just a handful of laps, before going on to sail serenely and supremely on to take the chequered flag some 3.5 seconds to the good.

He was hoping to repeat that success in the annual pre-season shakedown at Clay Pigeon – attended by some 25 drivers – but despite displaying lightning pace on the opening practice day, this time Lady Luck was not on his side…

“Clay is an engine track and all the big teams were there,” Tom recounted, “so I didn’t think we were going to be on it straightaway, but on Friday we were down the road, absolutely on it wet or dry. I was feeling really confident and looking forward to it; lying in bed that night I was thinking ‘I’ve got a good chance here’.”

The last time Tom had raced at the Somerset circuit was two years earlier, with Clay set to host the curtain-raising Super 1 meeting next month. Continuing to lap faster than traditional favourites such as Ryan Singleton and defending ‘O’ Plate holder Joseph Reilly on the Saturday morning, the Athenium Racing ace’s tail was clearly up.

Then, however, the rear axle on his kart sheared right in the middle of the seat, and upon examination showed to be just a quarter of an inch from snapping right through. With no spares available, the weekend had suddenly been transformed from a glory mission into a lost cause.

“It completely upset the kart,” Tom acknowledged. “It would no longer do what I wanted it to do – it was understeering and oversteering all over the place. In left-handers it was absolutely fantastic, but in right-handers it was useless; it just didn’t want to turn at all.

“We knew what was wrong with the kart, but we didn’t have the parts to fix it. We were just trying everything to see if it would make a difference, but nothing did.”

A best result of ninth spot in the four heat races left Tom lining up a lowly 16th on the grid for the final, and once again it was the same story. After a bright start that saw him gain a few positions, he rapidly became a sitting duck.

“I knew I couldn’t let it get to me,” he underlined. “I just had to keep pushing whatever the situation was. I got quite a good start and a couple of drivers ahead of me went off at the first corner, then I made up a few more places when some others went off too. Then they started to come past…”

Thirteenth place may have been far from what he had been aiming for going into the meeting, but identical lap times in all the heats and the final proved beyond doubt that Tom had been on the ragged edged and pushing the kart absolutely as fast as it wanted to go. It may have been a frustrating end to an outing that had initially promised so much, but all was not entirely in vain, he stressed.

“I think it did help,” he summarised. “We needed to see how the chassis would perform in a big event and we learned a few things. I was disappointed, but really I hadn’t got my hopes up because we knew what was going to happen.”

Photo by Gary Kimber

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