TOM Ingram secured a podium-finish for Speedworks in a third successive British Touring Car Championship meeting at Thruxton on Sunday.

The rising star had set a lap record during qualifying the previous afternoon to put the Northwich outfit’s Toyota Avensis on pole position for the second time this term.

He maintained that advantage when the lights went out at the start of race one, only for a series of assaults from rivals to relegate him to fifth with a flailing rear bumper.

After regaining a couple of places, the 22-year-old was promoted to second when Matt Neal’s Honda suffered a puncture.

Handling 66kg of success ballast in his stride, Ingram was again embroiled in a scrap for the lead in race two when he was given a drive-through penalty for a jump-start, dropping him to the bottom of the order.

He recovered to finish inside the top 20.

From a lowly grid position for the final sprint, the three-time Ginetta champion scythed his way to the fringes of the top 10 before an alternator belt failure ended early his involvement.

“It’s fair to say we hoped to take away more points after qualifying on pole,” said team principal Christian Dick.

“It’s obviously frustrating not to be scoring as highly as we are capable of, but we feel the potential is clear for all to see.

“To achieve a second pole reaffirmed the Avensis’ pace, and Tom then remained at the sharp end throughout race one by maturely keeping his head.”

Matt Simpson, in Speedworks’ new Honda Civic Type-R, enjoyed his best weekend since joining the series.

He was 13th in races one and two before retiring from the third sprint.

Speedworks sit eighth in the team standings after nine races, fifth in the Independents’ Trophy, ahead of their home round at Oulton Park next month.

Meanwhile Ingram, who claimed his first car-racing pole position at the Little Budworth circuit seven years ago, occupies 11th place in the overall drivers’ table.

“While it’s disappointing to be reflecting on another weekend of ‘what should have been’, there are a lot of positives to take from Thruxton,” he said.

“I felt like I was used as a bit of a pinball for the first few laps, but the car stood up well to the punishment and so did the tyres.

“As we were waiting for the lights at the start of race two, I felt the car creep ever-so-slightly. I didn’t think it would warrant a penalty because it was extremely marginal, but I guess rules are rules.”