BTCC: Ingram fights back to win race two ahead of Sutton
![Tom Ingram - Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 Hyundai i30 N](https://cdn.crash.net/styles/article/s3/pa/3430388.0003.jpg?itok=gfp2bA8e)
Defending British Touring Car champion Tom Ingram keeps his title hopes alive after fighting back to win race two ahead of runaway points leader Ash Sutton at Donington Park.
Minutes prior to the start of race two, Ingram was given a 0.5s race one time penalty, which moved the Hyundai back to third on the grid behind Jake Hill, who the reigning champion was adjudged to have 'not given a cars width to the edge of the circuit' following their last-lap tussle.
However, Ingram quickly put the penalty behind him by immediately muscling his way past his race one adversary Hill through the Craner Curves, which gave the Hyundai driver the inside line for the Old Hairpin.
Ingram and Hill's brief tussle allowed the pole sitter and points leader Sutton to build an early lead. It was a lead that proved short-lived as Ingram's Hyundai looked re-energised in the full-dry conditions.
The EXCELR8 Motorsport driver soon caught Sutton's Ford and made the decisive race-winning move on lap 4 with a late but firm lunge at Redgate corner.
Sutton initially attempted to fight back to re-snatch the lead, but it soon became apparent that the Sutton/Ford package was unable to keep pace with Ingram.
Ingram eventually crossed the line over two-seconds to the good to secure only his second win of 2023, while Sutton held on to protect his healthy championship lead in second position.
Despite looking vulnerable in second, Sutton successfully soaked up lap-after-lap of pressure from BMW duo Hill and Colin Turkington in third and fourth.
One Motorsport's Josh Cook finished in a distant fifth aboard his Honda Civic Type-R, ahead of Toyota Gazoo Racing's Ricky Collard in sixth.
NAPA Racing UK's Dan Rowbottom split the two Toyotas in seventh, with Rory Butcher following the Ford behind in eighth.
Adam Morgan and Aron Taylor-Smith completed the remainder of the top-ten order in ninth and tenth.