Ingram and his Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 N squad appeared to have made the appropriate name to drag him into the pits for wet-weather tyres on the ninth lap of 24 when the rain started to make the circuit treacherous on the Clark/hairpin finish of the course.
A few security automotive durations pulled those that had remained on the lead lap after pitting onto the again of the practice and, as situations worsened and those that had stayed out made belated stops or slid off the circuit, Ingram emerged in entrance going into the closing phases.
The ultimate flourish of inexperienced flags allowed simply two laps of racing and commenced with Ingram having fun with a buffer of 4 lapped automobiles between himself and runner-up Jake Hill, who had pitted his West Surrey Racing-run BMW 330e M Sport one lap later than Ingram.
Ingram crossed the road with a cushty cushion of 4.877 seconds to Hill, however each his Hyundai and that of third-placed Tom Chilton – who was one of many earliest to pit – bumped into difficulties on the post-race ride-height verify.
This will occur when races begin in dry situations, flip moist and groups match grooved rubber, on which the tread then wears down – it additionally occurred when Excelr8 driver Ronan Pearson completed third in the course of the opening race weekend at Donington.
Relying on the decision of officers, that would hand victory to Hill.
“It’s so exhausting in these situations,” stated Ingram. “The final half of the circuit was moist and the primary half was dry – or drier.
“In the long run, I stated to ‘Spenny’ [engineer Spencer Aldridge], ‘You’re going to need to make the decision mate,’ and he stated, ‘Proper, field this lap.’
“Typically you simply need to take a step again and take a look at the larger image.”
Hill and Ingram had been operating third and fourth in a practice of automobiles on the entrance of the sector as poleman Ash Sutton and fellow front-row starter Josh Cook waged an exhilarating battle for the lead.
{Cook} bought in entrance on the fourth lap when Sutton’s Motorbase Performace-run Ford Focus ST slid extensive exiting the chicane, dropped the left-rear wheel into the gravel and slewed again onto the circuit, clipping the One Motorsport Honda Civic Kind R as he did so.
On the eleventh lap, Sutton braved it out across the outdoors of Duffus Dip on the slippery floor, and {Cook} simply couldn’t maintain the Honda on the within line. He clipped Sutton and that triggered a sideways slide into the barrier on the backside of the hill.
Sutton pitted on the finish of the primary security automotive, triggered by Michael Crees’s Crew Arduous Cupra stranded on the backside of Duffus, selling Scottish pair Aiden Moffat and Rory Butcher to the entrance.
However, on slicks, they quickly bumped into hassle, and Moffat’s One Honda and Butcher’s Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Corolla bought concerned with one another, Butcher additionally clipping Adam Morgan’s WSR BMW as he regained the observe.
With each Scots stranded on the observe, the security automotive was referred to as out once more.
By way of all of the drama, Andrew Watson got here via to fourth in his Energy Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra from Stephen Jelley’s WSR BMW and the Speedworks Toyota of Ricky Collard.
Late stopper Sutton made up two spots within the ultimate two laps of green-flag racing to take seventh from Aron Taylor-Smith (PMR Vauxhall), Pearson and George Gamble (Speedworks Toyota).