Tom Ingram delivered the first ever Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship pole position for EXCELR8 Motorsport – also a maiden qualifying triumph for a Hyundai – as the 28-year-old broke the existing lap record at Oulton Park.
An exciting 30-minute session threw up a number of changes in the top order, although Ingram was already in command by the midway point.
When Ingram then bettered his own time to clock a new 1:25.468s lap record, there was no coming back from the chasing pack.
The positions behind did change throughout and it was Rory Butcher that left it late to blast his Toyota Corolla on to the front row of the grid.
The Scotsman endured a tough start to proceedings when track limit infringements left him languishing at the rear, but the Speedworks Motorsport finally delivered for the local team as he grabbed second in the closing minutes.
The Scotsman endured a tough start to proceedings when track limit infringements left him languishing at the rear, but the Speedworks Motorsport finally delivered for the local team as he grabbed second in the closing minutes.
Daniel Lloyd made it a double celebration for Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com as he grabbed third, the Yorkshireman continuing to haul himself closer to stablemate Ingram.
Adam Morgan – a constant threat throughout the day – grabbed fourth for Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport as the local driver provided yet more cheer for the partizan Oulton Park fanbase.
NAPA Racing UK and Halfords Racing with Cataclean both enjoyed promising sessions with Ash Sutton, Dan Rowbottom, Dan Cammish and Gordon Shedden occupying fifth through to eighth on the timesheets.
Title chasers – Colin Turkington (Team BMW) and Josh Cook (Rich Energy BTC Racing – could only manage ninth and tenth as the lack of hybrid power available to them seemingly made an impact during qualifying.
Rounds 10, 11 and 12 of the 2022 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship take place at the picturesque Cheshire circuit tomorrow with tickets for spectators still available to purchase on the gates.
Those unable to attend can enjoy the action live and exclusively via the ITV Network. Races 1 and 2 will be screened on ITV from 1210, before the coverage switches to ITV4 for Race 3 from 1505.
Tom Ingram said: “Really, really pleased with that, it was great to get it off my back. [Oulton Park] hasn’t been the kindest of circuits to me over the years, I think it’s been a biproduct of having quite a strong start to the year, I’ve always come here with quite a lot of ballast in the past. So to be able to come in with a little bit of hybrid deployment still means we can make the car feel fantastic, and it felt phenomenal. It was the best I’ve had a car around here. It just did everything I wanted it to, so I’m really pleased.
“We did a slightly longer run throughout FP1 and the car felt great in that, and a good qualifying car usually means you’ve got quite a good race car. I hope that’s the case, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed. I’m going to get an early night tonight and see how we end up. It’s in good shape, the car’s feeling great.”
Rory Butcher said: “When you break track limits, you get penalised! I didn’t get a lap in on that first run, then in the second I started the lap and was like right, the pressure’s on let’s do this! And I just hooked it up and pieced the whole lap together. The guys have given me an amazing car, they’ve worked really hard. Yesterday, they had to swap an engine for me as we had an issue and had to replace it. They told me if I got on the front row I had to thank them, so I’m not going to forget!
“We’ll see what happens on that first lap, my starts have been mega this year, I’ve really made a step forward with them. So we’ll see who can make it to the first corner. We’re in a great place but it’s hard to overtake after that first lap. We’ll see what happens.”
