If top-line rally seats and titles were handed out for dedication, then Chris Ingram would already be firmly ensconced in a World Rally Championship drive and would be pushing hard to gain global recognition.
However, the 28-year-old Briton has not had the breaks despite performing at every level of the mixed-surface discipline he has tackled. From a glittering early career in the junior learning category, F1000, the Mancunian has turned the heads of manufacturers along the way, but the cards never seem to fall for him.
The highlight of his career to date was a dramatic triumph in the European Rally Championship in 2019, which was taken in the most nail-biting of circumstances, as you can read here.
That should have been the springboard he needed, but Covid and funding issues hit almost as soon as he had turned his career into its massive upward swing. Undeterred, he has battled on and has corralled the support of a dedicated group of enthusiasts to help him maintain his path to the top.
This season, he is contesting the WRC2 contest in a Toksport Skoda Fabia and began his campaign with sixth place in the division in an outmoded version of the Fabia on the Monte Carlo Rally.
That has prompted another consolidated push for him to get himself into a more up-do-date machine for the remaining rounds. Nothing comes easy to Ingram, but he refuses to give up.
For details of how to help Ingram’s push to the top of rallying, it is worth checking out his rallywarrior.com website to see the different ways to support him.
Question: How did the passion for rallying ignite in you? What are your first memories of the sport?
James Hilton Via email Chris Ingram: “My dad Jon used to compete in the 1980s in road rallies. He was really quick, but he didn’t take it seriously. Then he got back into it when I was a kid and he took me along to watch a rally when I was about eight years old and I was obsessed since then. It blew me away and it has been my biggest passion ever since.”
MN: So did your dad help you out to get going in the sport himself?
CI: “Yes, dad helped me out initially. He gave me my first push into the sport and then I just ran with it.”
So who was your
