Tom Ingram has taken a major step forward in his fledgling motor racing career after being snapped up by the leading Athenium Racing outfit for next year – and he wasted little time in proving to his new bosses that they have made a very wise decision indeed.
The young High Wycombe ace has signed a deal to compete with the squad throughout the 2008 season, both at home and abroad, and a rigorous winter testing programme has been planned in anticipation of what he and the team hope will be a title-challenging campaign. Racing on the largely untried AMV chassis, Tom knows a lot of hard work lies ahead, but he is certainly encouraged by his experience of his new mount so far.
“We tested at PF International about three weeks ago,” he explained. “I felt the kart definitely had a lot of potential; we made a few set-up changes and it kept getting better and better throughout the day. After that I was really excited heading to Whilton Mill.”
Whilton Mill marked Tom's maiden competitive outing with Athenium, and though he entered the meeting with the primary intention of developing the chassis and stressing a good result would be merely a bonus, lapping four tenths quicker than
anyone else in the opening session soon gave him reason to re-assess his aims.
“After practice I was really confident,” the 14-year-old asserted. “I know I can be consistent, put in good times and always be there or thereabouts. In the first heat I started 21st and finished sixth; the kart felt amazing. You need to really make a lot of places up on the first lap at Whilton, and by the end of lap one I was already 13th, after which I just continued to push my way through.
“In heat two a load of people went out on slicks, but my mechanic Darron Gibbs kept saying ‘no, they're doing the wrong thing mate. We're right, they're wrong – trust me'. The race got nearer and nearer and I was asking ‘are you sure?' and when we got to the grid we were one of only four or five people out on wets.”
![BRDC Stars of Tomorrow Junior Max front-runner Tom Ingram leading the field on his Athenium Racing debut at Whilton Mill [pic credit: Pixelero]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/399515.jpg)
