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BTCC young guns have the old guard firmly in their sights!

By MJP Media | 14 September 2015

The established names in the BTCC may be at the top of the Drivers' Championship table however a new generation of rising stars is determined to make its mark in Britain's premier motorsport series.

Aiden Moffat got his maiden BTCC podium finish at Knockhill

In the two recent meetings at Knockhill and Rockingham, the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship has shown that the next generation of stars are ready to battle with the more established names as Tom Ingram, Josh Cook and Aiden Moffat have all stepped up to the plate and taken their maiden podiums.

First up was young Scotsman Aiden Moffat who drives for the Laser Tools Racing team in his distinctive black/blue Mercedes Benz A-Class. In only his second full season in the BTCC, Aiden has threatened to pull off a surprise or two before now with some excellent top ten finishes. The youngster from Dalkeith claimed a 3rd place in the last race at his home track, Knockhill. Speaking exclusively to us after the race he was naturally ecstatic: "This is a fantastic result for me and the team. Now that I have some silverware, I want a lot more."

Rockingham provided Josh Cook with his first BTCC podium

Next it was at Rockingham that Josh Cook took not only his maiden podium, but his Power Maxed Racing team's first podium as well in his very yellow Chevrolet Cruze. Cook's result was even more impressive as he started the second race in 14th place before an epic battle with Adam Morgan saw him taking third place on the final lap. Josh, who is no stranger to trophies in his career to date, was nearly as happy as team owner Adam Weaver who said: "We have real potential here, it is our first season and all already Josh and Dave are ruffling some very experienced feathers. It's awesome."

Then it was the break-through moment that the fans had been waiting for as Speedworks Motorsport's Tom Ingram, driving the venerable Toyota Avensis, came home in second place in the final race of the day. Ingram, who was last year's top BTCC rookie, has had so many top 10s and fantastic duels that it had almost seemed that a podium had been unfairly elusive. He broke that duck with real style though after an extensive battle with one of the BTCC's greatest drivers, Jason Plato. The duel was lap after lap of classy tin-top racing and Plato only just beat Ingram with the aid of a nudge or two here and there. Bearing in mind that the race was Plato's 93rd BTCC race win and you can see that if Ingram can compete at this end of the grid, then he has a great future ahead of him. "This is by far the highlight of my career to date - something I've dreamed about for many years and today that dream came true." he enthused. "The BTCC is what I've always wanted to do and to finish on the podium in the toughest touring car championship in the world is a lifetime ambition fulfilled."

Tom Ingram got on the podium in the last race at Rockingham

There is no doubt that the crop of young drivers coming through, which also includes Adam Morgan, is a great foundation for the series going forward. With the title sponsorship of Dunlop and live terrestrial television coverage by ITV tied up, the series is clearly the place to be for manufacturers and drivers alike. Long may it continue.

Touring Car content supplied by MJP Media