TOM Ingram won a trio of awards including a fan-voted accolade following the conclusion of the 2024 British Touring Car Championship season.
Ingram, who races for Droitwich-based Team Bristol Street Motors (Team VERTU from next season), just missed out on winning a second BTCC title at the final race weekend of the season at Brands Hatch.
The 31-year-old produced a stunning drive from the back of the grid to second at Donington Park in August to keep his title hopes alive after a stone punctured the radiator of his of his Hyundai i30N in the previous race.
And his performance at the circuit earned the Team Bristol Street Motors driver the fans’ choice award from a 10-strong shortlist.
Ingram said: “It’s always rewarding to win something that was chosen by the fans – it’s nice to get that acknowledgement and respect for what you’ve achieved.
“Even now, I still look back and re-live that race – especially the story that went with it.
“Just as we looked to be on-course to recover some of the points we had lost in race one, we got the stone through the radiator, which was such a freak occurrence – and failing to score meant things looked pretty bleak in terms of the championship.
“In the space of two weekends, we had gone from having a healthy little points gap to suddenly playing catch-up, primarily due to circumstantial incidents outside of our control. It felt like it was slipping through our fingers.
“It also wasn’t like having to replace a punctured tyre or repair a bit of damage – we knew the only option was to change the engine, and to do that in-between races is a herculean task. It was literally all hands on deck – it had to be – and it was amazing to see some of the guys working on the other cars in the team coming across to jump onto mine.
“It was all very calm and methodical – there was no panic, no chaos, no shouting. I don’t think anybody doubted that we would get it done, and it was honestly textbook – taking the engine out and installing a new one in just an hour was an outstanding effort. I couldn’t have asked for more.
“One saving grace was that we had a full chunk of hybrid, which immediately changes your mindset because you know you have an advantage over those that don’t. From 19th on the grid, I thought a top six finish would be a good result – but within barely two laps, we were into the top ten, which obliged us to re-evaluate our objective.
“To ultimately finish second was phenomenal. Could it have been a win with another lap or two? 100 per cent, yes. That was the only disappointment, because we came so close. It was an incredible story as it was, but to have won would have just topped it off. Still, we outscored all of our main rivals, which was the job we needed to do.
“I would rate it as the best drive of my career, simply due to how important it was. It was a genuine case of the chips being down, and we had to somehow salvage the situation. Every single lap was driven on pure adrenaline. Had we had another bad result, realistically I think our title shot would have been over. That’s how critical it was.”
Ingram also collected the Championshup runners-up trophy and the social media prize for his promotional efforts on his channels at an awards ceremony at Silverstone.
After missing on the title by just eight points last season, the EXCELR8 Motorsport ace wants to reclaim the BTCC’s top prize in 2025.
He recently spent several days testing at Anglesey in North Wales in preparation for the new season.
Ingram added: “We got some useful running in and made some good progress.
“I didn’t think there was much more to come from the Hyundai, but it seems we’ve already found another few tenths.
“From having probably the fastest car this year, we’ve already made it even faster just through set-up tweaks, before we even look at any proper development – and there’s still a long winter to go before next season begins. So that’s hugely encouraging.”
The new BTCC season begins on the weekend of April 26 and 27 next year.
