ERC champion Ingram predicts “awesome” battle for Rally di Roma Capitale glory

Ingram had been hoping to launch his title defence on the demanding Italian event but will instead watch the action from afar while he waits for his 2020 campaign to get under way.“It will be between Crugnola or Lukyanuk,” said Ingram. “We all know Alexey’s level having won this event before and Crugnola was unbelievable last year. He won pretty much every stage and he’s also just won two rallies in the last two weeks. It will be awesome and I would love to be there to take them on.”A tough job that needs to be done properly or not at allWhile stepping up to the World Rally Championship remains Ingram’s ultimate target, he revealed onERC The Stage– the online talk show from ERC promoter Eurosport Events – earlier this year that a successful ERC title defence with long-standing team Toksport WRT would be a target for 2020.“With Toksport we are still keen to go back to the ERC and do as many rounds as possible,” said Ingram. “We have decided to skip Rome, which is a big shame because it’s one of my favourite events and one of the best events. There’s always amazing competition and it would have been great to go there, but if you’re going to go there you need to do it properly or not at all. It’s a tough event and the level is very high. The favourites for the rally, drivers like Crugnola, are already testing and doing rallies. I have not driven since Rally Hungary [last November] and we can’t do things by halves. We decided the best thing would be to give ourselves more time to get restarted. We really hope we can resume the action as quickly as possible.”The ERC comes highly recommendedChris Ingram became the first Briton to win the ERC title since Vic Elford in 1967 when he beat Alexey Lukyanuk to the crown in a thrilling final-stage showdown on Rally Hungary last season. It was the culmination of an adventure that began in 2014 when he made his ERC3 Junior debut driving a Renault Twingo for his family team and included winning the young driver category in 2017.“ERC Junior is the best way to progress,” said Ingram. “Last year we showed that ERC1 Junior is as competitive as the overall championship, the battle I had with Filip Mareš on the Barum Rally was one of the highlights of the season even though I didn’t win. But also ERC3 Junior, which we both did before moving up to ERC1 Junior. For me it’s the best way to get into international rallying. You’re not restricted to a certain car and when I started the ERC I pretty much turned up with my Dad and a mechanic and we were able to compete. To be able to go from turning up with a family-run team to be able to win the overall championship with a professional team, the ERC made that possible so it’s very special for me.”He continued: “The media coverage is incredible, the rallies are so unique and so challenging. And each event offers such a different challenge. And then the support you get from each place we go to, from the fans, is unbelievable. Wherever we go it’s another world. Every rally is so special individually and it just makes for an amazing championship that I wish I could do every year.”

The post ERC champion Ingram predicts “awesome” battle for Rally di Roma Capitale glory appeared first on FIA ERC | European Rally Championship.