Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS' Tom Ingram bounced back from a challenging weekend at Snetterton last time out to claim pole position for Round 10 of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Thruxton earlier today (8 June).
The fastest circuit in the country is always one for the brave with pole position bringing extra bragging rights, as Ingram turned what will be one of the quickest laps this season.
Sporting the #100 on his Hyundai i30N for the first time – in celebration of BRISTOL STREET MOTORS' centenary – the 2022 champion produced the high-speed spectacular to become the first driver this season to claim two pole positions.
NAPA Racing UK's Dan Cammish will line up on the front row, despite having felt poorly for much of the week, as the Ford Focus driver made dramatic improvements on-track throughout the day.
Jake Hill provided huge entertainment for the banks of fans as he pushed his Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport machine to the absolute limits. Some drifting and heavy braking featured during his final stint, but it was still enough to grab third on the grid – a good follow up from his double victory at Snetterton.
The NAPA Racing UK duo of Dan Rowbottom and Ash Sutton were next in the order, although both drivers experienced different qualifying sessions. Rowbottom showed fantastic pace and looked to be a contender for pole, whilst Sutton had to sneak his way through both the first and second segments of qualifying, having to contend with the minimal hybrid deployment that his championship leading position bestows.
Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS' Tom Chilton again showed his competitiveness in 2024 by making it into the qualifying 'Quick Six' session, the Surrey driver will line-up sixth for tomorrow's opener.
Adam Morgan (Team BMW), Josh Cook (LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ), Andrew Watson (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK) and Colin Turkington (Team BMW) completed the top ten positions.
Rob Huff (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK) and Aiden Moffat (LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ) were arguably the most notable drivers that failed to progress from part 1 of qualifying.
One driver that made it through, but not without drama, was Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing’s Árón Taylor-Smith.
The Irishman had already set a good enough benchmark to progress, but fired off his Vauxhall Astra at Noble on a following flier, which sent his #40 machine spiralling towards the barrier at high speed.
Taylor-Smith was able to crawl back to the pitlane with broken suspension and incredibly his team repaired the car for the second segment. The current Independent standings leader eventually had to settle for 12th behind team-mate Mikey Doble.
Rounds 10, 11 and 12 of the 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship will take place at Thruxton tomorrow. The action will be broadcast live in the UK on ITV4 from 1100 with every race also being beamed around the world via the ITV Sport TikTok channel.
Tom Ingram, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS, said: "Really pleased. The car has been fantastic today, we've worked hard at it, but I felt confident coming into the race weekend. It's felt alive right from the get-go and everyone in the team has done a fantastic job, even better to celebrate 100 years of BRISTOL STREET MOTORS and also my 100th race with EXCELR8 this weekend.
"This is the biggest qualifying day of the year. This place is tough, we are all so on the edge. It's a really unique challenge to unlock this place. It's a circuit I've always really enjoyed but it's a circuit where you need everything to align. It's a great result but now we've got to maximise the points score tomorrow."
Thruxton - Qualifying - Classification
Qualifying - Part 1 - Group 1 | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P/ | No/ | Name/ | Entry/ | Laps/ | Time/ | Gap/ | On/ | |
1 | 27 | Dan CAMMISH | NAPA Racing UK | 7 | 1:16.216 | 5 | ||
2 | 100 | Tom INGRAM | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | 6 | 1:16.384 | 0.168 | 5 | |
3 | 66 | Josh COOK | LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ | 6 | 1:16.684 | 0.468 | 4 | |
4 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | Team BMW | 7 | 1:16.827 | 0.611 | 5 | |
5 | 1 | Ashley SUTTON | NAPA Racing UK | 6 | 1:16.885 | 0.669 | 6 | |
6 | 11 | Andrew WATSON | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK | 6 | 1:16.896 | 0.68 | 5 | |
7 | 12 | Rob HUFF | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK | 6 | 1:16.979 | 0.763 | 4 | |
8 | 222 | Chris SMILEY | Restart Racing | 6 | 1:18.017 | 1.801 | 6 | |
9 | 29 | Scott SUMPTON | Restart Racing | 6 | 1:18.997 | 2.781 | 4 | |
Qualifying - Part 1 - Group 2 | ||||||||
P/ | No/ | Name/ | Entry/ | Laps/ | Time/ | Gap/ | On/ | |
1 | 32 | Daniel ROWBOTTOM | NAPA Racing UK | 6 | 1:15.908 | 5 | ||
2 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | 6 | 1:16.285 | 0.377 | 4 | |
3 | 24 | Jake HILL | Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport | 7 | 1:16.303 | 0.395 | 3 | |
4 | 40 | Árón TAYLOR-SMITH | Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing | 5 | 1:16.411 | 0.503 | 4 | |
5 | 88 | Mikey DOBLE | Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing | 6 | 1:16.745 | 0.837 | 3 | |
6 | 20 | Colin TURKINGTON | Team BMW | 7 | 1:16.833 | 0.925 | 5 | |
7 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ | 6 | 1:17.278 | 1.37 | 4 | |
8 | 77 | Sam OSBORNE | NAPA Racing UK | 7 | 1:17.470 | 1.562 | 4 | |
9 | 18 | Daryl DELEON | Duckhams Racing With Bartercard | 6 | 1:17.733 | 1.825 | 6 | |
10 | 22 | Nick HALSTEAD | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | 6 | 1:19.129 | 3.221 | 6 | |
Qualifying - Part 2 | ||||||||
P/ | No/ | Name/ | Entry/ | Laps/ | Time/ | Gap/ | On/ | |
1 | 32 | Daniel ROWBOTTOM | NAPA Racing UK | 6 | 1:15.388 | 3 | ||
2 | 100 | Tom INGRAM | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | 6 | 1:15.614 | 0.226 | 4 | |
3 | 24 | Jake HILL | Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport | 6 | 1:15.799 | 0.411 | 3 | |
4 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | 6 | 1:15.910 | 0.522 | 4 | |
5 | 27 | Dan CAMMISH | NAPA Racing UK | 7 | 1:16.012 | 0.624 | 4 | |
6 | 1 | Ashley SUTTON | NAPA Racing UK | 7 | 1:16.158 | 0.77 | 3 | |
7 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | Team BMW | 7 | 1:16.167 | 0.779 | 7 | |
8 | 66 | Josh COOK | LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ | 5 | 1:16.172 | 0.784 | 4 | |
9 | 11 | Andrew WATSON | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK | 6 | 1:16.396 | 1.008 | 4 | |
10 | 20 | Colin TURKINGTON | Team BMW | 7 | 1:16.476 | 1.088 | 6 | |
11 | 88 | Mikey DOBLE | Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing | 6 | 1:16.513 | 1.125 | 3 | |
12 | 40 | Árón TAYLOR-SMITH | Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing | 3 | 1:16.629 | 1.241 | 2 | |
Qualifying - Quick Six | ||||||||
P/ | No/ | Name/ | Entry/ | Laps/ | Time/ | Gap/ | On/ | |
1 | 100 | Tom INGRAM | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | 6 | 1:15.379 | 4 | ||
2 | 27 | Dan CAMMISH | NAPA Racing UK | 6 | 1:15.644 | 0.265 | 3 | |
3 | 24 | Jake HILL | Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport | 6 | 1:15.668 | 0.289 | 3 | |
4 | 32 | Daniel ROWBOTTOM | NAPA Racing UK | 7 | 1:15.678 | 0.299 | 3 | |
5 | 1 | Ashley SUTTON | NAPA Racing UK | 7 | 1:15.822 | 0.443 | 3 | |
6 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | 6 | 1:16.139 | 0.76 | 4 |
Click here for the full Qualifying classification.