Typical: no sooner had we named Tom Ingram as our tip for the 2021 British Touring Car Championship title in our new-year predictions than he announced a split with his team of the past seven seasons. “Well, I hope your tip doesn’t change!” he laughs when we catch up with him. “Just because I’m in a different car, it doesn’t change my outlook.”

The 27-year-old from Buckinghamshire had become something of a fixture driving Toyotas for Speedworks in the BTCC but, as he explains, it was time to shake things up. Now he will drive a Hyundai i30 N Fastback for Excelr8 Motorsport (see what they’ve done there?), and he’s certain he will hit the ground at a gallop when the series starts at Thruxton on 8/9 May.

Baking a new flavour

“It was a surprise to a lot of people, because I was considered part of the furniture at Speedworks,” Ingram admits. “People never really thought that I would move, which is maybe why I never used to get calls from other teams.”

He says that commercial factors drove the decision, as Speedworks aligns closer with Toyota Gazoo Racing and expands its entry to two cars, neither of which had space for his sponsors – Cornish pasty maker Ginsters and Hansford Sensors, which has backed him for a decade.

“I don’t think either party necessarily wanted to part ways, but unfortunately that’s the way motorsport goes,” says the 16-time BTCC race winner. “It’s a commercial business.

“[Speedworks boss] Christian [Dick] and I never fell out, it was just a case of looking after our own. He has his commercial partners and we have ours, and it has got to work for both us. It made sense to part ways.”

Just days after that decision had been taken, Ingram took a “coincidental” call from Excelr8 – the team founded by Justina Williams in 2009 that also looks after the development and building of cars for the Mini Challenge one-make series.

“I had coached some of their Mini drivers, so I already had a relationship with them, and I like what they do,” explains Ingram, who quickly agreed to lead what will now be a four-strong squad of Hyundais.

Why the Hyundai hits the spot

The Toyota Corolla that Ingram has left behind is considered to be one of the best cars on the grid, but he’s certain the i30 N that was new to the BTCC last year has just as much potential.

“In terms of its characteristics, the Hyundai is a little longer, but there’s benefit in its shape,” he says. “The i30 N has the best bits of the Corolla and the Avensis that I drove before. It’s going to be a really good little car.