TOM Ingram has work to do when the British Touring Car Championship resumes at Oulton Park on Sunday after extra weight slowed his car during qualifying.
The Speedworks Motorsport driver, third in the standings and so carrying 57kg of success ballast inside his Toyota Avensis, set the 17th fastest time during a half-hour session at the Northwich team’s home circuit.
It means he starts the first of three scheduled races from the grid’s ninth row.
“It’s hard to extract a good lap time with the weight on board,” said the 24-year-old, who is also suffering the effects of a sickness bug.
“We thought we could squeeze out a bit more after a good first session.”
Ingram had pipped Tom Chilton’s Ford Focus for second in a practice session on Saturday morning, clocking a best lap of 1:26.401.
He almost matched that time in qualifying, posting a 1:26.411 on the fifth lap, but could not improve after two visits to the pits.
The effect of a heavier load was demonstrated by series leader Adam Morgan and Josh Cook, the former Speedworks ace’s closest-rival, both occupying places below Ingram on the time-sheet.
What it looks, and sounds, like to have Tom Ingram thunder past - out of Knickerbrook and up Clay Hill - in his @SpeedworksMS Toyota during #BTCC #FP2 at @Oulton_Park. pic.twitter.com/jlMgHwcEOU
— Andrew Simpson (@simmo_on_sport) June 9, 2018
“I don’t feel great, but I’ll be fine,” added Ingram.
“I’ll get on with it; to be honest, once the adrenaline kicks in you quickly forget about it.
“It’s only when you get out of the car that you remember.”
Matt Simpson, who raced for Speedworks during his debut campaign in the championship two years ago, secured his maiden pole position after blitzing the field.
He had already fired out a warning after setting the pace in his Honda Civic Type-R during the second practice session, and he backed-up that showing by producing a lap of 1:25.750 around the 2.23-mile circuit at Little Budworth.
The top 24 cars were separated by less than a second.
Ingram said: “I did what I could, and we’ll be in the thick of it for race one [on Sunday].
A bumper crowd is expected at Oulton Park tomorrow, when the races will be broadcast live by ITV Sport.
The first of three touring car races is scheduled for 12.20pm.
To see the results from qualifying in full, click here
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