TEAM Bristol Street Motors driver Tom Ingram remains at the top of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) drivers’ standings after securing a podium finish in race three at Knockhill.
Ingram crossed the line in second place in the third and final race at Knockhill, with teammate Tom Chilton in third, following a DNF in race one and 10th place finish in race two.
The results mean Ingram leads the BTCC drivers’ standings by three points from closest challenger Jake Hill while Team Bristol Street Motors sit second in the teams standings behind NAPA Racing UK.
Team owner, Justina Williams, said: “It’s been a tough weekend but we come away from it with a great result in race three with two cars on the podium, and it means we have kept our lead in the championship.
“To see all four drivers score points is also a positive and each of them had put in a strong performance on race day which we now need to build on when we head to Donington Park.”
Ingram added: “It’s been a hell of a day after the drama of race one, and then the further drama of race two – where I was concerned we were on for another no score when I was bouncing across the gravel and the grass.
“We’ve had a good car throughout the weekend but were hurt by the lack of hybrid in qualifying, which put us back in the pack. After race one, we had it all to do to try get up into the top-12 in race two, and it wasn’t easy having to do it twice after the contact with Chris [Smiley].
“Race three was a fantastic battle however with Rob [Huff], but it was one of those where I knew he had nothing to lose, and he knew that I had to be careful with the championship situation.
“Having Tom [Chilton] behind me was good as he could support me and I knew he wouldn’t do anything stupid, and it had allowed us to come away still leading the championship with three rounds to go.”
Ingram went into the weekend with a 21-point Championship lead, however, three of Team Bristol Street Motors’ four drivers failed to make it out of Q1 with Ingram, Ronan Pearson and Nick Halstead all missing out.
That left only Chilton to fly the Team Bristol Street Motors flag for the remainder of qualifying.
A difficult first race saw Chilton finish in 14th, Pearson 17th and Halstead 19th while Ingram suffered a DNF after making contact with Aiden Moffat’s Toyota which also left him at the back of the grid for race two.
And despite a strong start to the second race alongside teammate Chilton, Ingram took a trip across the grass after a clash with Chris Smiley to drop back down the order.
Chilton managed to cross the line in ninth as Ingram battled back to finish 10th with Halstead 17th and Pearson forced to retire with a potential power steering issue.
Ingram and Chilton shared the second row of the grid in the third and final race of the weekend as the former quickly overtook Aron Taylor-Smith to move into second place.
The Coventry driver battled with Rob Huff for the race lead and briefly edged ahead before settling for second place as Chilton acted as a shield in third as he kept both Ash Sutton and Hill at bay.
Pearson produced a fine drive to gain 10 places and finish 10th with Halstead 15th despite mid-race contact which saw him spin off the track and was later promoted to 14th place.
The BTCC continues at Donington Park on August 24 and 25.
