TOM Ingram racked up a hat-trick of points-scoring finishes for Speedworks Motorsport in the most recent round of the British Touring Car Championship at Snetterton.

However the Northwich outfit’s Toyota Avensis was off the pace for the first time this season at the Norfolk track.

They hope to have discovered a reason why before heading to Knockhill, in Scotland, for the next meeting this weekend.

“On paper, it’s not the kind of track that is suited to our car,” said team principal Christian Dick.

“By the same token Snetterton should have been tailor-made, so it’s fair to say the formbook has been completely thrown out of the window and it’s impossible to make predictions.

“That said, we’ve got to be happy to come away with a decent haul of points and to have gained ground on our rivals in the championship – if that’s a bad weekend, we’ll take it!”

Ingram had stolen the show during a two-day tyre test at the same venue a month earlier, setting the pace in both dry and wet conditions and breaking the lap record.

After qualifying fourth, the 22-year-old was shuffled down the order to sixth by the end of race one.

He classified seventh in the second sprint, leading to a front-row start in race three.

However contact with a rival sent his machine bouncing across the grass, forcing him to settle for 12th at the finish.

“It was a pretty below-par weekend by our recent standards,” he rued.

“So to be closer to the leaders by the end of it isn’t too shabby.

“It was the first time this season We weren’t really be in contention for a podium, so we’ve plenty to go through before Knockhill to try and get to the bottom of it and come back fully on-song.”

Ingram sits seventh in the overall drivers’ standings after six rounds, and second behind Andrew Jordan among independents.

Matt Simpson, in Speedworks’ Honda Civic Type-R, was 22nd in race one at Snetterton before classifying 17th in the second sprint.

He did not finish the third.

Speedworks, meanwhile, are sixth in the Teams’ classification and consolidated second in the Independent Teams’ Trophy.