Ingram tops BTCC test at Silverstone

Toyota Gazoo Racing UK's Tom Ingram set the fastest time during the British Touring Car Championship's official pre-season test at Silverstone.

The BTCC's traditional season launch went on behind closed doors at Silverstone following yesterday's [Monday] government advice issued in regard to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Ingram sent his factory Toyota Corolla to the top of the timesheets during the afternoon running of the one and only official pre-season test after MB Motorsport's Jake Hill had set the pace earlier in the morning segment.

The Toyota driver's 1'06.171s lap was good enough to beat the Honda Civic Type-R of Hill by just 0.051s, while last year's joint BTCC runner-up Dan Cammish ended the day a further 0.3s off with the third fastest for the factory Honda outfit.

Rory Butcher impressed on the latest Ford Focus ST challenger's first official track appearance after the Scot set the fourth fastest time for the Motorbase Performance team.

Butcher made his BTCC debut with the Motorbase outfit back in 2017 and has returned to his former team for the 2020 season.

Just behind Butcher, reigning four-time champion Colin Turkington completed the top-five order aboard Team BMW's new-look 3 Series challenger.

Turkington emerged from the test as the quickest BMW runner with team mate Andrew Jordan setting the seventh fastest time for the West Surrey Racing squad.

The brand new Hyundai i30 in the hands of EXCELR8 Motorsport's Senna Proctor split the two BMWs in sixth position, just 0.6s off the quickest lap of the day.

Former three-time champion Matt Neal showed little ill effect from a previous cycling accident he suffered earlier in the year after setting the eight fastest as the Honda driver continues his return to full fitness.

2017 champion Ashley Sutton marked his first official appearance with Laser Tools Racing Infiniti squad with an encouraging performance in ninth, while Chris Smiley provided the new Hyundai venture with yet more cause for optimism after setting the tenth fastest time on the i30's BTCC test debut.

The BTCC's season is now scheduled to get underway at Thruxton on 16/17th May following the postponement of the first three rounds of the campaign at Donington Park, Brands Hatch and Silverstone, due to the Coronavirus outbreak.