Ingram Wins the Thruxton Finale as EXCELR8 Banks a Big Weekend

If Oulton was a weekend where the results did not tell the truth, Thruxton was one where they told plenty. A race win, a superb recovery drive, and points on the board across the board. The championship arithmetic still reads Sutton, Sutton and more Sutton, but for EXCELR8 and Team VERTU this was a weekend of proper touring car racing at the fastest, most demanding circuit in the country, and they came away from it with silverware and a smile.

Thruxton hosted Rounds 13, 14 and 15, the mid-point of the season, resuming after the seven-week summer break.

Tom Ingram wins the finale

Tom Ingram had the sort of weekend that looks a great deal better on Sunday evening than it did on Sunday lunchtime. Second to the imperious Josh Cook in the Saturday qualifying race, then a hard-working fifth in Race 1 after being shoved wide early on, recovering with a lovely move around the outside of Adam Morgan at the chicane and a dive down the inside of Dan Cammish at Segrave. Race 2 looked like second until a ten-second track limits penalty demoted him to fifth, the sort of thing that can sour a weekend.

And then Race 3. Drawn second on the reverse grid, Ingram was past polesitter James Dorlin before the first lap was out, controlled the restart after a lengthy safety car, and set a fastest lap over a second quicker than anyone else on the circuit to win by six seconds on the road. His start was placed under investigation, he was handed a five-second penalty for reversing in his grid box, and it did not matter a jot because he had built enough of a cushion to keep the win by 0.663 seconds. His second victory of the season, taken with a level of control that says the title defence is far from over even with the gap where it is. He remains second in the championship.

Ricky Collard, the save of the weekend

If you want the drive of the weekend from an EXCELR8 car, it belongs to Ricky Collard, and it did not come easy. His Saturday was a write-off, a stricken car in the qualifying race bringing out the safety car and leaving him with work to do from a poor grid slot. Race 1 gave him nothing, Race 2 salvaged eleventh, and it would have been easy to file the weekend under forgettable.

Instead he produced a genuinely brilliant Race 3, carving through to fourth with a pass on Daniel Rowbottom and then a properly daring move on Dorlin around the outside at the flat-out Church corner, holding a slide through the quickest part of the circuit to make it stick. It is the sort of overtake that makes people sit up, and it is the sort of drive that keeps making our point for us. Whoever puts Collard in a full-season seat is doing themselves a favour.

Chilton and Hamilton

Tom Chilton had a quieter one, twelfth in Race 2 and a tidy eighth in the finale after nicking two places in the closing laps, a modest but useful points haul. Nic Hamilton got his head down after the brake failure that ended his Oulton early, running all three races and bringing the car home each time, fifteenth in the finale. Not a weekend for the highlight reel, but mileage banked and a clean sheet, which after Oulton is worth something.

EXCELR8's partners

The EXCELR8 operation is backed by brands who understand that motorsport works hardest when the partnership is properly activated, not just badged.

Team Vertu — one of the largest automotive retailers in the UK, and the title backing behind the BTCC entry.

Draper Tools — the Hampshire tool manufacturer supplying trade and workshop since 1919.

Hansford Sensors — global manufacturer of industrial vibration monitoring sensors.

HRX UK — performance racewear worn across the grid and beyond.

Millers Oils — Yorkshire-based independent lubricants and treatments manufacturer, in motorsport since 1887.

If you would like to talk about partnering with EXCELR8 or any other team in the paddock, we can help.

SuperHub trackside

SuperHub produces content for Team VERTU and EXCELR8 Motorsport through the season, and Thruxton gave us plenty to work with, a win to celebrate, a recovery drive to shout about, and the reassurance that when the circuit rewards racecraft rather than raw car pace, this team delivers.

The BTCC heads to Knockhill next, a tight and technical Scottish circuit that could hardly be more different from the Hampshire speedbowl. Ingram sits second, Collard keeps making his case in the most emphatic way possible, and there is a race win freshly on the board to carry into the second half of the season.

SuperHub partners with EXCELR8 Motorsport across the 2026 season delivering content, PR and sponsor activation. To talk about motorsport sponsorship, book a call or drop us a line.

Race results sourced from the official BTCC timing partner, TSL Timing, and the official BTCC website.