Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS returned to the top step of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship podium for the fourth time this season on a sweltering day of action at Oulton Park.
The EXCELR8 Motorsport-run team headed into the fifth meeting of the campaign seeking to challenge for top honours at a circuit where it had been successful in the past, with drivers Tom Ingram, Tom Chilton, Ronan Pearson and Nick Halstead all in confident mood.
Things started well on Saturday with the quartet all showing strong form in the two free practice sessions at the wheel of their Hyundai i30 Fastback N machines.
Ingram would end the two sessions with the second fastest time, with both Chilton and Pearson also lapping inside the top ten and Halstead improving by just under half a second from FP1 to FP2.
Come qualifying, Ingram was on fine form as he topped all three of his qualifying groups to snare a third pole position of the season, with Chilton also making it through to the Quick Six element of the session as he matched his best of the year with fourth place.
Pearson and Halstead would both fail to make it past Q1, with Pearson just a tenth of a second away from progressing as he ended up in P15 for race one, with Halstead qualifying in 20th spot for the weekend opener as he was forced to contend with back pain following his accident at Thruxton in the previous meeting.
In sweltering track conditions, the four drivers took their places on the grid for the opening race of the weekend, with Ingram able to retain the lead when the lights went out and the field headed down to turn one for the first time.
Title rival Ash Sutton tried to force his way through at both the hairpin and the chicane on the second lap – forcing Ingram to run off across the grass – but as the race settled down, he was able to edge away at the front to grab a third victory of the campaign.
Chilton held fourth through the opening laps but lost places when the car briefly shut down mid-race, although he was still able to secure a solid top ten finish by taking the flag in seventh.
Pearson – the only one of the four to elect to run the hard tyre – picked up points in 13th, which marked a fine recovery drive for the Scot after he failed to get away from the line due to an electrical issue and dropped to the back of the field before battling his way back up the order, with Halstead just outside the points having kept out of trouble to take the flag in P17.
