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As if a podium finish in only his fourth-ever car race wasn’t enough, Tom Ingram’s 2009 has just got even better still with the High Wycombe ace earning himself a coveted place at the Silverstone National College for Motorsport – meaning he heads to his next meeting at the future home of the British Grand Prix brimful of confidence.

After eight years in karting that yielded no fewer than 13 major titles – including that of British Champion in BRDC Stars of Tomorrow, the same series that first set none other than his racing hero Lewis Hamilton on the fast track to future Formula 1 glory – Tom has graduated to cars in the Ginetta Junior Championship this season, on the support package for the hugely popular and televised British Touring Car Championship (BTCC).

Treating it at the outset as a learning year, the 15-year-old – still two years away from being able to drive on the roads – has stunned the paddock fraternity, finishing 11th and eighth on his debut at Brands Hatch and then going on to take the chequered flag fourth and third at Thruxton, the fastest and most fearsome circuit in the country three weeks later.

Inexperienced he may be in comparison with his rivals, but that is far from holding him back as the reigning Wycombe and Marlow Sports Personality of the Year sits equal fourth out of some 23 drivers in the championship standings and comfortably top rookie two rounds in, and his outstanding potential has now been recognised by the Silverstone National College for Motorsport.

Following a successful interview, Tom was awarded a place on a one-year course focussing on the technical and mechanical side of cars, meaning that whilst he is already clearly a star of the future on-track, he will henceforth be learning much more about what his Ginetta is actually doing as well and will therefore be able to give better feedback to his engineers.

At the end of the course he will undertake an apprenticeship – much as he did at leading F1 team Red Bull Racing last year – to put all that he has learned into practice, and he can then choose between finding a job in the field or returning to the college for a further two years to study for an even higher qualification.

“I was really pleased,” he enthused. “It’s what I want to do – racing at the weekends and working with cars during the week. It’s a fantastic opportunity for me. Ross Curnow was on the course and has since gone on to run his own team in Formula Renault, and alongside my racing I would like to go on to secure a position at somewhere like Red Bull where I have been before. That would be the absolute really; you can’t believe how much I’d love to do that.”

Returning to his principal focus for the time being, however, Tom will be competing at Donington Park next – future home of the British Grand Prix and, like most of the circuits that the Ginetta Junior Championship is visiting in 2009, one he will be discovering for the first time.

“Not having been to the track beforehand hasn’t proved to be a disadvantage so far,” mused the Monodraught and Joe Bloggs-backed speed demon, “so the aim has to be to get into the top ten again. I’m really looking forward to it; like Brands Hatch, it’s a proper drivers’ track with famous corners like the Craner Curves and Old Hairpin, and if Formula 1 is going there from next year too it’s obviously a great place to be. It should be good fun!

“I’m the top rookie at the moment, and on the budget we’re on I think that’s none-too shabby at all to be honest. Not wanting to be big-headed about any of it, but I think with the support of Tockwith Motorsports behind us we’ve done really well, especially getting a podium in only my second weekend of car racing. It certainly hasn’t been easy by any means, but I’m very pleased with how it’s gone so far.

“I just hope we can keep going for the whole season now, because finances are really tight and we’re always looking for more sponsors. With the championship being broadcast on ITV, I think it’s a fantastic opportunity for anybody who wants to get their name out there.”

And a fantastic opportunity, too, of course, to be associated with a driver who looks like he has the talent and determination to go all the way…

Picture courtesy of Lee Foxon