A new era in the British Touring Car Championship saw the debut of the ‘race to pole’ format. A two group shootout qualifying session set the grid for the 13 lap qualifying race. Before we get to the race to pole, let’s recap the group qualifying sessions.
Ingram charges to the top of Group 1
The 12 minute session got underway with the BMW of Charles Rainford setting the early pace. He occupied the track while the front wheel drive cars did their tyre crosses. Dan Rowbottom then put his Plato Racing Mercedes A35 to the top of the timing screens but was quickly overturned by the practice topping Tom Ingram. Ingram led the way for the rest of the session. Ingram’s table topping time was a 1:07.647.
Charles Rainford locked up under braking pushing hard into Mcleans. The 27 year old ran wide and had to return to the pits to clear the grass from the front of his car which ended his session. Aiden Moffat looked to set a time good enough for second place right at the end of the session. However, his lap was deleted due to a track limit infringement and he was relegated back down to fourth.
Being in group one meant that Ingram now had the anxious wait to see if his fastest time would be quicker than the second group and secure him pole position.
Sutton storms out of the blocks to Group 2 lead
Ash Sutton wasted no time in putting his NAPA Racing Ford Focus to the top of the times in group two. His first flying lap of the session was just two tenths off Ingram’s benchmark. He found more time as the session went on, eventually improving to a 1:07.665 but still adrift of Ingram’s best. The four time champion was pushing hard but couldn’t find any improvements. He came in early with a front right puncture after hitting the tyre barrier at the esses.
Behind Sutton, Cook and Cammish were trading times good enough for second position. Cammish eventually pipped Cook to make it a NAPA Racing 1-2 in Group two. Adam Morgan battled with Daryl DeLeon over fifth position after Morgan had boost issues early on in the session.
Sutton’s efforts weren’t quite good enough to beat Ingram which means the drivers in group one would start in the odd numbered grid positions.
The Race to Pole
The very first pole position race had all the hallmarks of a BTCC classic with Ingram and Sutton alongside eachother on the front row and a small rain shower before lights out!
Early drama between Ingram and Sutton!
Ingram and Sutton both made good starts from the front row with Sutton being shown the outside line into Redgate. Sutton snuck his nose down the inside of Ingram’s Hyundai I30 N into Mcleans and managed to complete the pass into Coppice. Ingram was passed by Sutton and then was under attack from Dan Rowbottom down the Dunlop Straight. Ingram managed to get a brilliant drive down the straight and passed Sutton with Rowbottom also getting ahead of Sutton around the outside of the chicane.
Down the main straight, Ingram and Rowbottom were side by side with Sutton looking down the inside of the pair into Redgate. Sutton and Ingram looked to make a bit of contact which sent Sutton spinning across the track. Sutton, who’s spin also hampered teammate Cammish, couldnt escape the gravel trap on the outside of Redgate and was out of the race.
Ingram keeps the lead after Sutton’s Spin
Ingram was being followed closely by both Rowbottom and Josh Cook. The trailing pair were keeping Ingram honest and it would be very important they stayed close to Ingram as the reigning champion recieved a five second penalty for being out of position in his grid box. With just eight laps to go, Ingram had a huge task ahead of him if he wanted to secure pole for the opening race on Sunday. He pulled out a one second gap on lap six but the Hyundai driver struggled to make big gains over the next few laps.
It wasn’t until lap 11 of 13 until Ingram really started to push hard again. The gap kept extending and out of Coppice on the final lap, Ingram was just a couple of tenths away from a five second gap to Rowbottom. Rowbo managed his pace to perfection and finished 4.976 seconds behind Ingram.
The finishing order and starting grid for Race One:
- Dan Rowbottom
- Tom Ingram
- Josh Cook
- Mikey Doble
- Charles Rainford
- Tom Chilton
- Adam Morgan
- Aiden Moffat
- Gordon Shedden
- Daryl DeLeon
- Dexter Patterson
- Aron Taylor-Smith
- Ricky Collard
- Dan Cammish
- Chris Smiley
- James Dorlin
- Lewis Selby
- Sam Osbourne
- Nicholas Hamilton
- Max Buxton
- Ash Sutton
Hear from the top three drivers:
Dan Rowbottom, Plato Racing Driver “We’ve got a great product, we did just enough to start pole tommorow. We are still learning about this car and that was our first proper race run. We will try and take the fight to them tommorow.”
Tom Ingram, Team Vertu Driver “It wasn’t ideal but we managed to get something out of it. The car is strong and we are in a good place for race one tommorow.”
Josh Cook, Speedworks Corolla Driver “Good result for the team, we have some good pace in the car. We managed the risks with Tom [Ingram] having a penalty and Dan [Rowbottom] having two track limits warnings.”
Main image credit: Michael Jolley
