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Round four of the British Touring Car Championship season saw a visit to the UK’s ‘temple of speed’. Thruxton circuit played host to three exhilarating races filled with drama. But let’s unpack what happened on the day a little bit more and look at some winners and losers from rounds 10, 11 and 12 from Thruxton.
Winners
Tom Ingram
Coming into Thruxton, Tom Ingram did not have a race win to his name so far this season. But the driver for Team Vertu more than made up for it, claiming three podiums and banking the most points out of any driver. Ingram turned a front row start into a win in the first race of the day after a close fight with title rival Sutton. The two collided, for the first tiem this season, at the Club chicane which saw both of them run staight on.
Ingram followed his first win of the season with a second place in race two. Race three saw title rival Ash Sutton drop points after an incident with Jake Hill. Ingram benefited from the contact and passed his title rival. Giving him clear track to pass Dan Cammish for second place once again. Ingram has now closed the gap in the championship to just nine points behind Ash Sutton, making it absolutely all to play for at Oulton Park as the 2025 season reaches its halfway point.
Josh Cook
The ‘King of Thruxton’s weekend didn’t get off to a great start on Saturday as he crashed his Honda Civic hard into the barriers. After being cleared by medical teams and his car getting rebuilt overnight, Cook had a mountain to climb on Sunday.
Starting from 14th in race one, Cook made up eleven places and overtook Ash Sutton in the final few laps to claim an unlikely podium finish. Cook crossed the line third once again in race two. But post race scrutineering deemed the ride height on his Civic to be illegal. Cook was disqualified from the race two result and sent to the back for race three. But Cook put on another incredible comeback display. This time, he climbed 16 places and achieving a seventh place finish and class win. Maybe not the weekend the local favourite had in mind, but silverware and a good haul of points will put Cook in a good position in the Independent drivers title.
Losers of the weekend
Mikey Doble
It’s safe to say that at Thruxton, if Mikey Doble didn’t have bad luck, he would have no luck at all. Doble qualified incredibly well, putting his Vauxhall Astra fourth on the grid for the first race on Sunday. But, mechanical issues would be the theme of the day as Doble DNF’d in race one of the day whilst running in the top five. Doble made it back out for race two but only managed seven laps before pulling over again. The cause suspected to be engine issues. Starting from the back in race three, Doble charged from 21st up to sixth at the flag. However, a post race 10 second penalty for track limits dropped Doble to 14th place. Doble was leading the independent drivers standings but has now dropped to third place behind Chris Smiley and Josh Cook.
Restart Racing
After showing incredible pace in free practice, both Restart Racing cars had a tricky Sunday. Chris Smiley and Dan Lloyd could only manage 17th and 15th places in qualifying. But the team believed the cars would be better suited to the dry conditions on race day.
Both cars went forward in race one, with Lloyd finishing in 13th and Smiley in 11th, second and third in their class. Race two saw the pair inch their way a bit further up the field. The duo claimed eighth and tenth place with a 1-2 finish in the independent standings. But it all came a little bit undone in race three. Both the Restart cars did have a good run, with Lloyd crossing the line in seventh place but being demoted to ninth with a false start penalty. Smiley had a great race, taking the flag in sixth and a class win. But his car was found to be underweight in post race checks which meant he was disqualified from the result. Despite this, Smiley now leads the independent drivers standings heading into round five at Oulton Park. The Restart Racing crew do look to be a strong force in their class, but suffered a bit of a tricky weekend at Thruxton.
Image credit: Alfie Gendall