After years of coming so close as the nearly man, Tom Ingram has finally been crowned the British Touring Car Champion bookending a sensational weekend at Brands Hatch during the season finale to achieve destiny.
Sealing a double victory in the first two races, he followed it up with a fifth placed finish with drama till the very end as Ash Sutton and Jake Hill failed to make a dent in the aspirations of the EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com driver.
The race itself was a footnote with Ingram’s teammate, Dan Lloyd ending what has been an up and down season from his double win at Croft to nearly being out due to Oulton Park where he suffered a horror crash and had to appeal to sponsors and fans for potential funding but in the end, he left it on a high.
Josh Cook and Rory Butcher finalized the podium but all eyes were on the battle behind as they ran nose-to-tail with Ingram continuing to hold position while Sutton and Hill squabbled. The moment of truth occurred on the last lap as Hill made one last lunge on Sutton in a move that Ingram benefitted from to seal the title as the ROKiT MB Motorsport driver fell back.
George Gamble completed a superb debut campaign which saw a first win followed up by bad luck in sixth ahead of Hill, whilst Dan Cammish, Stephen Jelley and Aiden Moffat rounded out the top ten but all eyes were on Ingram as he sealed the title and fulfilled a lifelong ambition.
2022 British Touring Car Championship – Race 3 – Brands Hatch GP
1. Daniel LLOYD (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com 17 laps
2. Josh COOK (GBR) Rich Energy BTC Racing +0.724s
3. Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Toyota GAZOO Racing UK +4.409s
4. Ash SUTTON (GBR) NAPA Racing UK +8.555s
5. Tom INGRAM (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +9.479s
6. George GAMBLE (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +9.831s
7. Jake HILL (GBR) ROKiT MB Motorsport +10.327s
8. Dan CAMMISH (GBR) NAPA Racing UK +11.472s
9. Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team BMW +17.304s
10. Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +21.511s
11. Ricky COLLARD (GBR) Toyota GAZOO Racing UK +21.733s
12. Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +21.932s
13. Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +22.219s
14. Dexter PATTERSON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +22.332s
15. Ash HAND (GBR) CarStore Power Maxed Racing +22.644s
16. Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan +23.308s
17. Jason PLATO (GBR) Rich Energy BTC Racing +23.593s
18. Tom CHILTON (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +24.120s
19. Jack BUTEL (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +24.713s
20. Árón TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) Yazoo with Safuu.com Racing +25.167s
21. Jade EDWARDS (GBR) Rich Energy BTC Racing +25.388s
22. Ollie JACKSON (GBR) Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan +25.713s
23. Michael CREES (GBR) CarStore Power Maxed Racing +1 lap
24. Adam MORGAN (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +1 lap
25. Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +5 laps
26. Nic HAMILTON (GBR) Yazoo with Safuu.com Racing +7 laps
27. Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero +9 laps
28. Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero +15 laps
29. Rick PARFITT (GBR) Uptonsteel with Euro Car Parts Racing +16 laps