Attack of the underdogs as BTCC hits Brands
On last weekend’s Safari Rally, the Hyundai crews were among those having to watch out for the elephants; at the concurrent Brands Hatch British Touring Car Championship round, the top Hyundai driver had to work his way past an Oliphant. The absence of a BTCC title under his belt notwithstanding, Tom Ingram is renowned for having the tusks of an absolute top-liner. But what was impressive was that Tom Oliphant packed into his trunk the best weekend of his career, a superbly judged win, and 50 out of 51 laps led across the first two races.
The missing 51st of those laps was the culmination of an utterly superb second race of the day, in which Ingram, on form again with the Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 N, dived down the inside of Oliphant’s West Surrey Racing-run BMW 330i M Sport on the final lap at Paddock Hill Bend. Contact was made, there was some tandem drifting that would appeal to earringed youths with noisy exhausts and banging stereos, and Ingram had the inside line for the following Druids hairpin. Job done.
This was a weekend that had no clear narrative, no building to a climax, the three races seeming to take place in complete isolation from each other. It was Oliphant who claimed the highest points score with 38, from Ash Sutton on 36 and Ingram with 35. Stalemate among many of the leading contenders, but not Oliphant’s celebrated team-mate Colin Turkington: the lesser-fancied of the BMW
