Ingram bounces back from qualifying struggle to seize early points lead

Speedworks Motorsport's Tom Ingram said he felt the weight of expectation on his shoulders during the opening British Touring Car Championship weekend of the year at Brands Hatch.

The Toyota Avensis driver successfully bounced back from a tricky eleventh place qualifying run to emerge from the opening three races with the championship lead ahead of WIX Racing's Jack Goff.

Ingram capped off his weekend in triumphant fashion by winning the final race ahead of Adam Morgan after scything his way through the pack from eleventh place on the grid.

The 24-year old paid testament to his Speedworks outfit following their race day resurgence after a difficult qualifying.

"We really didn't have the balance in the car on Saturday," Ingram told Crash.net. "We were struggling but the boys worked their magic. It was nice to turn it around.

"There was a hell of a lot of pressure going on this weekend with us. Everyone had the expectation that we were going to qualify on pole and win the first race. I felt it a little bit.

"We were struggling so it's nice to get that win on the opening weekend. It was done in a slightly different way and probably in a better way from 11th on the grid.

"It was mega. Really, really enjoyable."

Although it was Morgan who finished behind the race winning Toyota Avensis in race three, Ingram found himself locked in combat with the Alfa Romeo Giulietta of Rob Austin for the lead during the first half of the race.

Having hunted Austin down, Ingram said he knew was 'in the power seat' given the Alfa Romeo's lack of running with ballast.

"I was mindful that I was quicker and lighter. That paid quite a big dividend in the end. I knew he'd start struggling with the weight because I knew they wouldn't have done a lot of high weight running with the Alfa," Ingram explained.

"I knew we were in the power seat so I just had to bide my time. I was that much quicker I could pick and choose where I wanted to get past.

"As soon as I was past it was just a case of saving the tyres and getting to the end."