Tom Ingram proved talent can prevail over both adversity and the elements with a superb wet weather performance in the final round of the BRDC Stars of Tomorrow karting championship at Three Sisters near Wigan.
The 14-year-old headed into the meeting unsure of his chances, given it is by-and-large a power circuit and power – or rather a distinct lack of it – has been his major bugbear all year. While many of his rivals throw hundreds and even thousands of pounds at their karts every weekend, Tom and his small family-run team have no such luxury so he knew he would be up against it somewhat.
“We knew from the beginning of the weekend we were going to struggle,” he candidly admitted, “because it's such an engine circuit. We also lost a bit of time in Friday's first practice session when the engine kept cutting out because I think it had some water in it.”
Despite never having driven on the track's shorter layout before, it took Tom little time to get to grips with it, and he set the third-quickest time in Saturday morning's damp practice. He knew, however, that may be something of a false dawn.
“I felt quite confident if it stayed wet,” the High Wycombe ace insisted, “but I was worried because there were dry patches forming on the track. Saturday was always going to get more difficult because the track was drying out; with the more rubber that went down the engines kicked in more.
“We couldn't get anything to work. Other drivers could stick their nose up the inside of someone and push them wide, but if I got my nose in I would just slide straight on and take them off. That held me back because I couldn't make the moves I wanted to.”
![Leading Junior Max ace Tom Ingram races on during the prestigious '0' Plate meeting at Whilton Mill in 2007 [pic credit: Chris Walker/www.kartpix.net]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/365392.jpg)
