Last time we saw Tom Ingram behind the wheel, he was battling it out at Croft Circuit in the British Touring Car Championship. But last weekend, for a change, he took on the fearsome Harewood Hillclimb.

No, not everything in Yorkshire was about the Tour de France on Sunday. Although only a short distance away from the Lycra clad masses, Harewood played host to the latest round of the MSA British Hillclimb Championship. Amongst the Porsches, Audi Quattros and specialist single-seaters was the distinctive Speedworks BTCC Toyota Avensis.

A narrow, winding, 1.4 km course and a sizeable Touring Car might not sound like an ideal combination, so Ingram took it steady as he commented that “there’s no BTCC-style run-off or gravel traps if you run out of talent” when attacking the Harewood hill. Although he didn’t trouble the top runners on the day, Ingram kept the car away from walls and farm buildings to emerge thankfully unscathed. 

It does, however, pose the question of what potential exists for more motorsport mashups. Formula 1 drivers doing rallying? Ah, Kimi Räikkönen and Robert Kubica have been there already. Maybe not. Although Kimi is quite clearly the master of taking on any form of racing – Sky Sports’ build up to the British Grand Prix included a rather special lawn mower race – dominated by a certain Finn. Perhaps we’ll see Kimi in the BTCC next year, although mandatory alcohol testing might cause a problem there…

Regardless, well done to Tom Ingram who, whilst proving himself in the BTCC, showed off his all round racing ability. Done without the aid of Lycra or silly helmets.

Special photo mention to motorsport photographer Leon Wall for images 1 and 2